Influence
by Nyakai
Summary: After Terra defeated Slade, there was a period of calm. Then, Slade returned and this time, he's after Raven. How long can she withstand his influence without her friends there to help? preseason 4. X to become a major character.
1. Prologue

**a.n.** Okay, this is my first Teen Titans fic, so I hope I got the characters right. If not, please don't tar and feather me. oO;

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the computer I type this on.

**Prologue**

Slade sat in his lair watching the large monitor. The screen was the only source of light in the cavernous room. It displayed pictures of the Teen Titans from clashes with him and other adversaries. Every foe they had come up against, they defeated, including Slade. That was a bothersome fact. It was sad, really, that he couldn't beat a group of children.

His gloved fingers tapped a control panel and the images switched from group photos to shots of the individual Titans. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. They had interesting skills on their own, but as a team they complimented each other perfectly. They had something that none of their enemies had. The Teen Titans had friendship. It was what kept the group together. It was what drove their will to save Robin from Slade's clutches. Not even the H.I.V.E. had that. Sure, those three were a team, but they would as soon back stab their partners as save them.

Together, the Teen Titans were an impressive force. But what if they were on their own, separated from their teammates? There would be no support to drive them, only the lone will to survive. Alone, they were weakened, manipulatable. Alone, they would be easier to defeat.

However, Slade already tried turning a Titan against the team. Twice. Neither times worked well. Robin defied him at every turn. He would never be on Slade's side, or accept the role of apprentice. Terra was more willing to conform, but in the end she, too, returned to their side. Why? Because they were her friends.

Slade sneered at the thought. He watched the pictures as they slowly went by. Terra had almost succeeded in destroying the Titans. They were afraid of hurting her at first, because they cared for her – their friend. But their resolve was not to be underestimated. When they came back, they fought to beat her. And they did beat her, for she turned against her master.

A group shot of the five lingered on the monitor. Slade sat back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. He studied the picture carefully, his mind racing. So far he had been too underestimative of the Titans. If he was going to destroy them once and for all, he needed a foolproof plan. He couldn't just rush in, snatch a Titan and force him into apprenticeship. He needed a slower, craftier plan. Once that would crumble the Titan's foundation of friendship from the inside out. He just needed to influence one of them... But even that choice could make or break his strategy. Robin was the obvious choice and also the hardest member to turn. Slade had tried it before, and by now Robin had only grown stronger to the man's attacks. Starfire would be another tough one. She was the one of the group most into the power of friendship. She would not be easily swayed by any of his influences. Cyborg would take too much time. Slade would have to convince both the human and the machine parts, and that was too bothersome. Beast Boy... well, the man just wasn't exactly sure what planet Beast Boy was on. He was no doubt the most naive one in the group, but then again he had the shortest attention span. Then there was Raven. She was the most detached of the group. Her darker side was quite familiar to Slade. He could connect with her on that. Raven was often alone – perfect for him to contact her. He also knew of the extent of her powers and how she controlled them. Slade had lured Terra to him by offering to teach her how to master her powers, which he did. He knew a similar tactic could be used with Raven. But he had to be careful. He needed to say the right things at the right time or everything would be ruined. This would take extensive planning, but it would be an interesting challenge.

Slade smiled beneath his mask. He switched the screen off and the room was flooded with darkness. The man had all the information he needed.


	2. First Contact

**Chapter 1**

Beast Boy raced into the living room, jumping and shouting, "Finally! I thought this day would never come!" He paused to look around the room. Robin and Cyborg were locked in a video game battle while Raven was off by herself, reading a book. Beast Boy ran over and popped up behind the couch between the two battlers.

"Dudes! How can you be playing _here_ when the Mega Arcade just opened in town!" the green boy exclaimed. The game was suddenly paused and both Titans turned to look at him.

"Mega Arcade?" Cyborg repeated quickly.

"It's got everything from the original Pac Man to virtual reality!" said Beast Boy, a dreamy look coming into his eyes. "The Mega Arcade has hundreds of games on five stories, plus tons of empty monitors where you can bring your own games to play on state-of-the-art equipment." Cyborg and Robin exchanged glances. In an instant their game was turned off and they were rushing toward the door dragging Beast Boy, who seemed to be off in a dream world thinking of the arcade.

"Wanna come, Rae?" Cyborg called over his shoulder. The girl didn't look up from her book.

"Spending hours in front of a screen for senseless entertainment while my brain melts is not my idea of fun," replied Raven in her monotone fashion. When the three reached the door, Starfire floated in.

"Star, do you want to go to a new arcade that just opened?" questioned Robin.

"I cannot. I must visit my home planet of Tamaran for the day." That even got Raven's attention, and she glanced up from the pages.

"Why?" Robin asked quickly.

"Blackfire has requested my presence. She was caught quite close to my galaxy after her banishment and brought into custody so she could be taken to another jail on another planet. It is only for today, I will be back by morning, friends," replied Starfire cheerfully.

"You're not going alone," Robin said determinedly. "Not after what happened last time."

"Friends, she is in prison. She cannot harm me," Starfire said. She looked at each of them. "Please, do not worry. I will return tomorrow." Suddenly Beast Boy snapped out of his daze, shaking his head to clear it of the remnants of his daydream.

"You're leaving Star? Before you see the awesomeness of the Mega Arcade?" he asked, sounding somewhat hurt. Raven glared at Beast Boy, but he didn't notice.

"She's bound to have a better time visiting the jail than at that mind-numbing arcade," the dark girl spoke up. When they all turned to look at her, she went back to her book.

"Well, if no one else is coming, I say all aboard the T-car," the green skinned boy announced. He was about to march off when Robin grabbed the boy's collar and pulled him back.

"Why is Blackfire contacting you now? She's been in jail a lot of times before," the masked boy said.

"Yes, perhaps she has had that time to think about what she has done. She probably wishes to apologize," replied Starfire with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, man. What's so wrong with her calling? She _is_ Starfire's sister, after all," Cyborg added. He and Beast Boy were waiting in the doorway. "You're looking way too much into things."

"And wasting the time we could be spending at the Mega Arcade," said Beast Boy. They fervently waved for Robin to follow them.

"I shall see you all tomorrow," Starfire announced, then flew out of the room.

"Come _on,_ dude!" Beast Boy shouted, trying to hurry Robin.

"I just don't think it's a good idea for her to go off by herself," he defended with a somewhat apologetic shrug. He followed them out of the room and the doors slid closed behind him. Raven heard Cyborg say, "Forget it. Star can take care of herself."

A few minutes later Starfire had left and the T-car sped out of the tower. Raven had the house to herself. For once, there was actually peace and quiet. It was a strange but welcomed sound to her. Of course she enjoyed being around her friends, but she cherished her alone time.

After two more chapters, the girl's stomach prompted her to set down the book and head to the refrigerator.

"Beast Boy better not have slobbered on everything again," she mumbled to herself as she rummaged through the fridge.

"Raven," a voice hissed as she brought out a bottle of juice. She knew that voice all too well. It sent chills down her spine every time she heard it. The glass she was holding dropped to the floor and shattered. Raven spun around and wildly scanned the room. He wasn't there. More chills ran down her spine. The girl had always hated the games Slade played, but surrounded by her friends she knew she would be fine. Now, without that circle of safety, she suddenly felt alone, intimidated, and scared. But where was he?

"What do you want, Slade?" she called, carefully searching the shadows of the room from where she stood.

"Just to talk," was the reply. It came from nothing, yet it came from everywhere. If she looked left, it sounded like it was coming from the right, and vice versa. Her paranoia made her mind play tricks on her.

"Why?" Raven shot back. Her hands clenched into fists but she still did not budge from her spot in front of the fridge. His menacing laugh pierced the silence and Raven took a step back.

"Because, dear child, there are things that need to be discussed." What kind of an answer was that? The dark girl took a few insecure steps forward. By now she was sure he wasn't in the room, but his haunting voice still frightened her as much as if he really was present. There was a communicator somewhere, and to find it she had to keep him talking.

"What sort of things?" Raven asked.

"How I can help you better than your friends – if you can even call them that." The girl hastily opened all the cupboards, but there was no communicator.

"_You_ help _me?_ I don't think so. I'm surprised you even knew my name. Last time anyone knew, it was Robin you were after," she said, inching her way across the room, searching every closed space she came across.

"I know many things about you, Raven. I perhaps know you better than the Titans. Do they really understand you?" asked Slade. The girl pulled the cushions off chairs and couches and checked under tables. Where was it?

"They understand enough," she hissed with frustration.

"Enough? But not all of you. They don't even understand all of what you allow them to know. You have many deep, dark secrets, child. Would you ever divulge them to the Titans?" he persisted. It wasn't under the couch or other large pieces of furniture. Heck, she even lifted the big screen TV, but only candy wrappers and a few of Beast Boy's lost socks were under there.

"My problems are my own," snapped Raven. She never liked it when people pried into her life, and she was seriously hating this. The sooner she found that communicator, the better.

"But isn't that what friends are for? To share the burden? To help you through your problems? Or don't you trust them?" He paused and waited for a retort, but she gave none. "Ah," came the smooth reply in an understanding tone. That made her cringe even more than the laughter. _Where was that communicator!_

"You're afraid of their reaction. What's the worst that could happen? They could turn their backs on you... or kick you out of their group–"

"They accept me!" Raven shouted to the space around her.

"That's all you've wanted, isn't it, to be accepted? How can they accept you when they barely know you? But then again, what do you really know about them?" The dark girl halted.

"I know what everyone else knows," she replied slowly, obviously thinking about her words.

"You know so much yet you don't trust them?" said Slade. Raven could sense the almost taunting tone in his voice. He was playing with her.

"Why do you care?" the dark girl asked, her voice choked with frustration.

"My dear, I'm just pointing out that they may be friendly toward you, but you have no true friends. No one who understands what you've been through. Have they ever volunteered to get to know you better?" he queried.

"Yes," Raven was quick to strike back. "Starfire did. She knows much about me."

"However, she only asked because she had to know about you. If you two had never been switched, she wouldn't have bothered with it." Raven seemed to had given up on locating the communicator and instead focused on the debate.

"They don't ask me about my life because they know I don't like talking about it. And they respect that."

"You don't want to talk about it because then you would have to explain your secrets, which brings us back to the fact that you can't discuss such matters with your friends because they're not as close as you would like to think." His voice slowed, as if he wanted to make sure she got the point. "My dear, it may be nice to know they care about you, and that shallow fact might get you through part of your life, but you will always feel a void. You will always long to be understood, to be able to talk about your secrets freely to someone who has the slightest grasp of what you've gone through. To have the support of someone who feels the same as you. To have the encouragement that you can get through it and remain, for the most part, unchanged. Your so-called friends can never give you that, Raven."

There it was. Attached to one of the remotes on the floor. It blended in quite well with the device, but through his long-winded speech she had found it. Darkness surrounded the communicator and it rose to eye level.

"And you're saying that _you_ can give me all of that?" Raven asked slowly.

"Yes." The girl's fist tightened and the communicator was crushed into numerous electrical pieces.

"This discussion is over."


	3. Up On the Roof

**a.n.:** **TheSkeet**- Thank you. 3 **VampireSelene**- Oh, thankies. It'll continue for awhile. **mysti-eyed**- this takes place before season four... sometime during season 3. But I'm just completely ignoring that whole Titans East thing there... **Lulu Cross**- Thank you. I've tried my best to keep them as close to the shows as possible, but sometimes they seem very different. x.x; **LM22102**- Thanks. I think Slade and Raven work well together, too. Although I'm still undecided as to what they're going to be in this story... I'm really making it up as I go along. **pink goth**- waaaaa, thank yew... :3 **gracefulraven**- Thanks, and good luck with your story. :)

**Chapter 2**

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." Raven chanted as she meditated on top of Titans Tower. The girl had gone to the roof partly because she wanted the calmness of the breeze and water, but also for fear that Slade had other communicators stashed around the Tower. How he even snuck them into the tower was beyond her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

Raven debated whether or not to tell the guys about her conversation with their worst enemy. If she did, she would have to tell them what was talked about. That would lead to a horrible domino effect. However much she didn't want to admit it, Slade had started the faintest hint of doubt in her. If only she could talk with her friends about it, the doubts might be dispelled, but the fact was she couldn't.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

Raven would just have to work out this problem on her own, like she had done with all the others. The girl didn't need to involve her friends in this. Friends... _"But isn't that what friends are for?"_ Slade's voice played over in her mind. "_To share the burden? To help you through your problems? Or don't you trust them?"_ A grimace crossed her face. She did trust the Titans. She trusted them with her life. But there were things she didn't want them to know; personal things. Besides, everyone had secrets. Starfire had her own secrets, and Robin had secrets he'd never so much as hint to the other Titans. Slade himself definitely had his own secrets and problems, and he didn't need friends to help work them out...wait! Why was she comparing herself to Slade! Raven shook her head and let out a deep, almost cleansing sigh.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

A soft breeze fluttered past her, tossing her dark hair and cape out behind her meditating form. All she had to do was forget what he had said. He was remarkable at bending the truth, so she shouldn't accept anything he said. But as Slade was talking, everything had sounded as if it made sense. He was articulately talented and knew exactly what he had to say to her. _"That's all you've wanted, isn't it, to be accepted?"_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"How can they accept you when they barely know you?"_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"But then again, what do you know about them?"_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!..." Raven's chant became harsh and forced. She couldn't remove Slade's words from her mind. Her meditation wasn't even helping to calm her. A pained expression consumed her face as she chanted. Why? Why was Slade picking on her? Why was he trying to make her doubt her teammates? What was he up to this time? _"My dear, I'm just pointing out that they may be friendly toward you, but you have no true friends."_ Raven cringed.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

What was in it for him? Why bother with confusing her? Raven saw what had happened to Terra. Did Slade really think the dark girl would jump to follow that path? Nothing good could ever come from that. Nothing good ever did. Terra was now a statue and Slade was still as evil as ever. Did he really think that at the first doubt planted she'd turn her back on her friends? _"My dear, it may be nice to know they care about you, and that shallow fact might get you through part of your life, but you will always feel a void."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"You will always long to be understood..."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"...to be able to talk about your secrets freely to someone who has the slightest grasp of what you've gone through."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"To have the support of someone who feels the same as you."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"To have the encouragement that your can get through it and remain for the most part unchanged."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"Your so-called friends can never give you that, Raven."_ The dark girl cringed again. She hated how he said her name; that he even knew her name. Why couldn't she block his words? Why were they so haunting? Was it because they were true? -No. They were _not_ true. They weren't. They couldn't be.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

Raven knew she would have to tell her friends that Slade contacted her. Maybe if they saw the dark girl not wanting to divulge too much information, they wouldn't ask much. She also knew that if Robin got the smallest trace of Slade, he'd go into his regular search-and-destroy mode. However, if the Titans went after their enemy, he might stop bothering Raven. That would give her peace of mind. The dark girl just had to be careful how much she told her friends. _"You don't want to talk about it because then you would have to explain your secrets, which brings us back to the fact that you can't discuss such matters with your friends because they're not as close as you would like to think."_

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"You have many deep, dark secrets, child." _Raven clenched her teeth. Why did he refer to her as 'child' all the time? Was he trying to make her feel inferior? Whatever his reasons, she hated it.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

And why did he call her 'my dear'? She wasn't his dear _anything._

_"Raven."_

Shut up! It was like his voice had been recorded in her head and was now replaying against her will. She had tried blocking it or thinking of other things, but nothing worked. Slade's voice kept popping up, rattling off some line from the conversation earlier.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"I know many things about you, Raven."_

When were the boys coming back?

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"I perhaps know you better than the Titans."_

Figuring them at a place surrounded by games, they could return later than Starfire.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..."

_"Do they really understand you?"_

She needed her friends.

"Azarath, Metrion-"

_"Raven!" _

That was it. The girl let out a scream, dropping to the hard surface. She thought she heard Slade's laugh. It was so loud, so close. Raven jumped to her feet and wildly looked around the rooftop. She was the only one there. It had just been her mind replaying a memory.

"Stay out of my head!" the dark girl shouted. It was directed to nothing – to anything – to Slade. Raven pulled her hood over her head and gazed out over the water to the setting sun. Evening was slowly approaching. The girl had spent almost the whole afternoon meditating. She wondered if she could wait up there until her friends returned. She was answered by a distant rumble; a thunderstorm was approaching. So much for that plan.

Very cautiously Raven returned inside. The living room was just as she had left it: her book on a couch, the shattered glass bottle in front of the small fridge, and the broken communicator on the table near the TV. The girl wanted something to keep her from thinking of that conversation. Reading was too quiet. She would clearly be able to hear herself think. Raven glanced around the room and her eyes landed on the big screen. Perfect. It would keep her distracted _and_ melt her brain. Maybe the memories of Slade would go with it.

A few hours later the boys returned, talking about the games they played. Upon entering the living room they stopped short.

"No way," breathed Cyborg.

"She... she..." Beast Boy stuttered, "she's- playing a video game? Raven's playing a _video game!_" Suddenly a string of victorious tunes trumpeted from the TV. It showed Robin's name in big letters under an enormous score being crushed by Raven's name with an even larger number. Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to Robin, who was wearing an expression of shock and surprise.

"Oh, hey, guys," the girl said once she finally noticed them.

"I thought you didn't like video games! I thought you said they were mind-numbing and brain-melting and senseless!" accused the green boy.

"I don't, and they are," she replied. She picked up the broken communicator and took it over to Robin.

"So why were you playing them?" Beast Boy asked, now very confused.

"As a distraction." Raven wouldn't explain further, especially to him.

"What's this?" Robin questioned when she dropped the pieces into his hands.

"It's Slade's. I found it and destroyed it. I don't know if he has more around–"

"When did you find it?" the masked boy interrupted.

"I dunno," Raven said with a shrug, "maybe two hours or more after you left." Robin's eyes widened.

"You found it this _morning_ and didn't bother to call me?"

"It was already broken," she defended quickly.

"Well, what have you been doing all this time? Playing games?"

"_Meditating,_" hissed Raven in a threatening tone. "And it's not like _you_ weren't playing games all day long."

"I wasn't the one who found this! Raven, this is Slade we're talking about!" Robin exclaimed.

"Don't you think I know that?" retorted the dark girl. Even though she rarely raised her voice, her tone was just as harsh as Robin's.

"Whoa, guys. Time out," Cyborg said, stepping between the two.

"Robin, chill," spoke up Beast Boy.

"Next time, Raven, don't waste time meditating and tell me about this stuff. This is serious," the masked boy argued, closing his fingers around the broken communicator. Fire burned in Raven's eyes. The large, semicircular couch was suddenly consumed by darkness and shot into the air. It landed upside-down and closer to the TV.

"My meditation is serious, too, and believe me, after Slade, I _needed_ it!" Quickly her eyes widened and she stifled a gasp. She had said more than she wanted to.

"Did you talk to Slade on this thing?" Robin asked, his voice much softer now. The girl backed up a step. She couldn't answer that. It would lead to too many other things. Suddenly a shadow engulfed her and she sank through the floor. The three remained silent for awhile. Soon Beast Boy's nervous laugh was heard.

"I guess we shouldn't go to the Mega Arcade for the whole day from now on."

"Yeah," agreed Cyborg. "But it was so awesome, man!" The green skinned boy erupted with laughter and the two began talking about the games again. Robin slipped out and headed for his room where he could thoroughly study the communicator.

Raven laid in her bed, arms wrapped around a pillow. Robin had never yelled at her like that. She felt very insignificant and lonely. The girl wasn't even going to try meditating again. She listened to the rain pouring outside her windows. Slowly she felt her eyelids drifting closed. Just as she was almost lulled to sleep, a voice broke the serene silence.

"Now is that how a _real_ friend would've acted?" Oh, no. No, no, no, _no!_ Raven shot up and looked around.

"You put a communicator in my _room?_" she cried.

--

**Next update:** Monday the 29th. Just so you know. )


	4. Conversing With the Enemy

**psycicflower-** Thank you. But if you really are psychic, shouldn't you already know what's to come? j/k **Zackery Faelan-** Much thanks. But this update was actually kinda quick. Next one's gonna be 7 days. **Wrathchild-** Yay, she's believable:D That just so made my day... seriously. But if you're expecting her to blow up at Slade 'cause he's in her room, you might be disappointed. :( **MCLBLUE-** Eee... thank you. **jade-** Mwaha. Cliffhangers are what I strive for. :3 **VampireSelene-** Wow, really? oO; I didn't really think I'd make _that_ much of an impact. **sugarhighnutcase-** Thank you. :3 **spiracle-** I'm updating, I'm updating! **raven's magic-** Wow, thanks. :) And Slade's only gonna get jerk-i..er... meaner? **Lulu Cross-** Thank you. :) I try. LoL.

**Chapter 3**

The communicator in the living room, fine. But her room? Now that was crossing the line. Several lines. At least. Her room was like her sanctuary. Slade could not be in her sanctuary.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" shouted Raven.

"We didn't resolve our chat from earlier," his voice replied. Where was it coming from? It was hard to tell with the loud downpour in the background.

"There's nothing more to say," the girl stated quickly as she crawled off of her bed. She began to stalk around the edge of the room, searching and listening for the device.

"No, Raven. There is much more to be discussed."

"I think you pretty much covered everything last time," she hissed, looking around her bookshelves.

"Not quite. However, I am curious, how was your meditation?" inquired Slade. The dark girl started. Quickly she looked around, wondering if he had cameras stashed around the tower, too. But how did he know about the meditation? The way he asked it sounded as if he knew how horrible it was. But he couldn't have known... could he? It was just a lucky guess. Raven shook her head. She was jumping to conclusions. He didn't know how her meditation was for sure, he was just asking. Perhaps he thought she'd reply asking how he knew, when he really didn't, but the girl would've then told him what he wanted to know. Raven almost smiled to herself. Could she be outsmarting Slade?

"That is neither your concern nor your business," the girl retorted coldly. A second later she heard his trademark laugh. She hated that laugh.

"Dear child, everything is my business," he said. Raven checked under her few pieces of furniture.

"I am _not_ a child," said the Titan.

"You're right. You most certainly are not," Slade agreed. Raven growled to herself. Why did he have to concur with her? It made it more difficult for her to argue.

"Just leave me alone, Slade."

"I can't, my dear. Not just yet, anyway."

"Why _not?_" she exclaimed. The girl checked the corners of her room where the shadows were the deepest. Suddenly the room brightened as a flash of lightning split the sky. No device hidden in the darkness.

"Like I said before: there is much more to be discussed," he said calmly. The way he kept his cool tone annoyed her. He sounded like he knew everything and it was all working out the way he planned. She hated that, too.

"Humor me," growled Raven. She could've sworn he chuckled at that.

"All right. You're always meditating to keep your emotions in check, but did you ever think it was because of your friends that you must meditate so much?" The dark girl straightened. _Where was that device?_

"That's ridiculous," she said immediately.

"Is it? You wish to remain emotionless so you can keep a hold of your powers, but it is your friends who bring out your strongest emotions. Worry, happiness, sadness. Feeling mad or guilt or perhaps even jealousy. Your friends are your real problem. If it weren't for them, you could have a better control of your powers," explained Slade.

"No," Raven said. It was the best response she could come up with. His speech sounded logical enough, but it couldn't be true.

"My friends helped me. My powers are developing just fine _because_ of their help!" she added.

"Are you sure you couldn't be farther along if you didn't have their hindrance?" the man shot back.

"My friends are _not_ a hindrance!"

"Not intentionally, at least, but they are. In the back of your mind you know it's true. Don't deny it. My dear, you don't need friends," said Slade.

"I don't need _you_, either, if that's what you're getting at." The girl folded her arms across her chest. He had hidden the device well.

"Was it?" he questioned. Raven rolled her purple eyes and vented a sigh, though it was barely heard over the heavy rain falling outside her window. She wondered if Slade was trying to confuse her. A quick flash of lightning brightened her room for a second, then faded. A minute of silence passed and Raven thought the man had forgotten about her. She would've liked that. But soon his voice again filled the room, cutting through the silence like a sharpened blade.

"My dear, do you really have fun with your friends? And I use that term loosely."

"Of course," she snapped. The girl sat on the edge of her bed. She was halfheartedly hoping for another long-winded speech so she could locate the new communicator.

"Are you sure? The other Titans have such close bonds- they're true friends. But you... you're not as outgoing as Starfire, nor as humorous as Beast Boy. In fact, you're exactly the opposite. You're not interested in what Cyborg and Robin like, or vice versa. They are all true friends, my dear, and you're merely an observer," Slade said. Raven was beginning to wonder if he just liked the menacing sound of his own voice.

"I balance out all their immature behavior," replied the dark girl matter-of-factly. "I keep them down-to-earth... for the most part."

"Ah, so you _don't_ quite get along with them. They're too childish for your taste, aren't they?"

"I didn't say that," Raven swiftly added. "They know when it's time to be serious and–" She was interrupted by a knock on her door. The noise made her jump. The girl quickly collected herself, stalked over to her door and opened it only far enough to see who it was. Robin was standing there.

"Hey, Raven," he said a little nervously. A long pause followed, the only noise being made by the rain. The girl didn't say a word. She was waiting for an apology, and if he wasn't going to give her that, she wanted him to state his business and leave. Raven watched him with an unreadable expression. Robin absently scratched his head.

"I... think I sorta... overreacted earlier. This is the first time in awhile that Slade has reappeared– and right in our tower. I guess I thought it was more serious than it was and–"

"Is this your attempt at an apology?" Raven cut in quickly. She was afraid that Slade would interrupt at any moment, and it was anybody's guess how _that_ would turn out.

"Um... yeah," said Robin nervously. He wasn't the best at apologies for he usually wasn't one to make them.

"Apology accepted," Raven blurted, then closed the door.

She felt almost traitorial talking to the Titan's worst enemy right in their own home. She wouldn't know what to say if they ever found out, or even how they would react. The girl had almost let it slip to Robin about the morning conversation, but she hoped he wouldn't know for sure.

Raven clapped her hands over her eyes and then pushed through her hair. The girl collapsed onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. The room was illuminated by another flash of lightning. All she could hear was the rain and her slow, steady breathing. She was too tired to argue anymore. Hopefully Slade was done talking to her.

The rain began to lull her to sleep again. Raven felt her eyelids becoming heavier. She crawled over to the pillow and just as her head hit it, a quick rap came from outside. With a groan she got up. Opening the door part way she saw Cyborg standing there.

"Hey, Raven. I just wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed... different today," he said.

"I'm perfectly fine," replied the girl with a sarcastic undertone. "Just tired." With that she closed the door.

"What was Slade talking about?" she said aloud as she returned to her bed. "Of course they're my friends. They care about me."

"They may care, but look how you respond to them. You shut them out," came the reply. The girl instantly wished she had kept her thoughts to herself.

"Go away, Slade. I don't like to be pointlessly bothered when I'm tired," Raven announced. She thought she heard a faint chuckle. He seemed to find quite a few of her statements amusing– especially when they were intended to be very serious.

"Very well. Good night." The girl looked wildly around the room. The Teen Titan's bitter nemesis was wishing her a good night? That possibly creeped her out more than the laughter. Raven unclasped her cape and draped it over a chair back before climbing back into bed. She listened with great appreciation to the rainy silence. The girl let out a long sigh and pulled up the sheets around her. Suddenly another knock fell on the door. She was beginning to hate that noise. Robin and Cyborg had already visited and said what they wanted to say, so all that was left was...

Beast Boy put on his big grin when Raven cracked the door. He lifted a finger and was about to speak when her door was slammed in his face. With a huff, the dark girl returned to her bed and soon fell asleep to the soothing sound of the rain.

--

**Next Update:** 9/5 Monday

**P.S.** Does anyone know if Hot Spot actually talks? I know he didn't in the show, but has anyone read the comics? That'd be a great help, if someone knew. :)


	5. The Parting of the Titans

**raven's magic-** Thank you. I hope Slade is as sneaky and annoying as he is in the show. :) **Jason-** Oh, thanks. Forgot about Hotspot talking. That'll help out down the road. :D **Neko-** Bwaha, I'd eat my shoe before the Titans East would ever show up. Certain people, yes, but Brother Blood will never be in here, and the only Hive people will be the original three from the first season. Not Bumblebee, tho. I just found her annoying. **LM22102- **Thank you. Oh, he does? Cool. He needs to be in more shows so people can hear him talking. o.O; **VampireSelene-** Thank you. :) Glad you like it. **psycicflower-** Ah, thanks for clarifying. And mebbe I'll start writing out the months instead... in Italian. :D j/k Hey, gotta learn the language somehow. x.x; Cool, hope you like it as it continues... **spiracle-** Thanks, but there will be cliffhangers in the future. :) **gh-** Okay seriously, was that just to fill in the name space or did you really intend to write that? Anyway, grazie.

-----

**Chapter 4**

The next morning Raven was up and out of her room early. She didn't want to hear from Slade again anytime soon.

When she entered the living room, she found Robin already sitting at the table, slowly eating his breakfast. The girl went to the fridge without a word and searched for something to eat. She pulled out a carton of milk and made herself a bowl of cereal. Raven sat on the other side of the table as far away from the boy as possible. Sure, she had accepted his apology – or what he was trying to pass as an apology – but that didn't mean she had to speak to him.

The dark girl slowly ate her breakfast, churning things over in her mind. Raven knew Slade wasn't just talking to her because he wanted to make her feel lonely or insignificant. He was up to something. She had to be careful when he contacted her. The girl looked at Robin. He seemed to be off in his own little world, eating in a mechanical fashion. Raven wondered if he knew she talked to Slade. She wanted to tell her friends about it so badly, but she knew that was impossible. The girl knew exactly how that would play out: She would tell her friends Slade had talked to her. After they got over their surprise, they'd ask what he had talked about. Raven would just shrug and say it was something about not having friends, but they would keep pressing her until they knew exactly what was said. That would mean she would have to admit one or more of her secrets. Raven was not willing to do that. Slade knew it, too. That's why he was being so bold, she figured. The girl also wondered how he knew so much. Did he know more than her own friends? Raven shuddered at the thought. Hopefully not.

As she ate, she realized Slade was right about one thing: she had almost nothing in common with everyone else. They didn't like her taste in books, she didn't like their tastes in movies, games, or music. They liked hanging out together having a loud, fun time while she preferred quiet times just to read or meditate. It did seems like the other Titans were closer. She was the different one. Raven knew that. The whole team knew that. And...wait! The girl shook her head trying to expel the thought. She couldn't assume Slade was right on anything. Ever. She had already known the Titans shared little interest with her long before Slade had ever mentioned it. However, Starfire occasionally meditated with her and she sometimes tagged along with the alien girl to the mall. She was closer to Starfire than any of the boys, but it was not like the dark girl hated them. Well, maybe Beast Boy, but not the others. Raven wondered if Slade's words wouldn't torment her as much if she were closer with the boys.

Raven put down her spoon and looked over at Robin.

"Hey, do you want help training today?" she asked slowly. The boy gave an unintelligible grunt as he stared off into space. Quickly he shook his head and looked at his teammate.

"Oh, sorry, Raven. I didn't see you there," Robin apologized, rubbing an eye. "Did you say something?" The dark girl opened her mouth, then paused.

"No," she sighed. Raven went back to eating, leaving Robin to slip back into his thoughts.

-

A few hours later, Beast Boy entered the living room to find Raven reading on a couch and Robin pacing the floor.

"Has Star come back yet?" the green boy asked. He walked over and sat on the back of the semicircular couch.

"No," growled Robin, furiously marching up and down his little path. "She said she'd be back this morning."

"Dude, it's only nine o'clock. Chill," Beast Boy said, pleasantly swinging his legs. "She's got until like... one, or something." Raven glanced up at him, then rolled her eyes.

"You're worrying over nothing," she spoke up, lowering the book so her face wasn't buried in the pages. "Starfire will come home in a couple of hours and everything will go back to normal." Her words gave Robin little comfort. The dark girl could see both the boys were worried for Starfire. She knew they all cared for the alien – she was their teammate. Raven wondered if they would worry about her if she were gone. The girl shook her head. Of course they would worry about her.

"If she's not back this afternoon, we're going looking for her," said Robin determinedly. Raven rolled her eyes. The girl didn't know why, but she couldn't stand being in that room anymore. Closing the book, she stood up and slipped out. The two boys never even noticed her leave.

Raven walked aimlessly around the tower for awhile and soon ended up in the garage. Cyborg was there working on the T-car. When he saw her he stopped what he was doing.

"Hey. Is Star back yet?"

"No," the dark girl said quickly, a hint of annoyance slipping into her tone. "Why, are you worried, too?" Cyborg shrugged.

"Just askin'." He went back to his work.

"Good, because Robin's worried enough for all of us."

"Yep," he laughed, "makes ya edgy, doesn't it?" When Raven didn't reply the boy again stopped fiddling with the engine and looked at her.

"Raven, is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped before walking out. She marched all the way outside and sat on a large rock next to the water. The dark girl tucked her knees under her chin and sighed. Why was this getting to her? It annoyed her that the boys were overly-worried. Maybe because she thought it was ridiculous – Starfire could take care of herself and would be back soon. Maybe she thought it was childish for them to be so overprotective of her. Maybe she was just... no. The dark girl definitely was _not_ jealous of Starfire's attention. Raven couldn't be. She just needed to meditate. The girl crossed her legs and floated into the air.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." she chanted. Her mind cleared and she felt herself slowly calming down. Suddenly her thoughts flashed back to her last conversation with Slade. He said her friends brought out her strongest emotions and for that they were a hindrance. He even mentioned jealousy. But why was she jealous over Starfire's attention? Raven never wanted a lot of attention before. Now, though, she felt different. She didn't know what she wanted. The dark girl only hoped to prove Slade wrong. However, that was becoming a challenging task.

Awhile later Raven heard Beast Boy's distinct, clumsy footsteps approaching. He stopped a few feet behind her.

"Um..."

"What do you want?" the girl snapped.

"Robin's calling everyone together. We're leaving."

"Where are we going?" asked Raven.

"After Starfire," Beast Boy replied. The dark girl opened her eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered to herself. Raven set her feet on the rocky ground and returned to the tower. The girl didn't know why, but Robin's attitude was bothering her. She marched into the living room, Beast Boy at her heels.

"There you are," Robin said. "It's almost noon and Starfire hasn't returned. We're going to the T-ship."

"This is ridiculous," announced Raven. "Why are you suddenly so worried about Starfire? You've never been like this before." Her eyes blazed beneath her hood.

"You're the one who's different, Raven," the masked boy replied. "You've never been so mad before."

"I'm mad because I don't like being _disturbed_ when I try to meditate!" she exclaimed. Suddenly she stopped short. _Madness_... Slade had mentioned that, too. Raven slowly backed up toward the door.

Beast Boy looked at her questioningly. "Raven, is everything okay?"

_"Why is everyone asking me that?"_ she screamed. Both boys jumped back quickly. "Fine, if you want to go, go. But I'm staying here!" With that she turned and stomped out. Robin and Beast Boy exchanged frightened expressions.

A few minutes later as the dark girl sat in her room, she heard the sound of the T-ship taking off. It made the entire tower shudder. Her room fell dark as thick smoke shrouded her window. With a sigh she pulled her hood over her head and walked out of her room, book in hand. Raven sat in the living room and opened the story to the bookmarked page. But she quickly found it difficult to read. As much as she wanted to forget that whole morning, she couldn't. Especially because it made Slade sound even more right. Why did he have to be right? Still, no matter what he said, Raven couldn't trust him. Ever.

Suddenly the girl remembered the communicator hidden in her room. She would have to find it and destroy it. The dark girl set the book on a table and returned to her room. First she looked under her bed.

"Did they all leave you?" a voice spoke up, shattering the silence and making the girl jump. It wasn't coming from beneath her bed. She stood up and began slowly walking around the edge of her room. She didn't feel like answering him this time. Slade didn't seem bothered by her silence.

"Such devotion they have for their teammate. It makes you wonder: would they act the same in your case?"

"Of course," Raven hissed. She had planned on giving Slade the silent treatment the whole time, but for some reason she couldn't hold her tongue any longer. He seemed to want to provoke her into an argument. And she fell for it.

"My dear, why are you so quick to defend them? It's a charitable thing to do... but they're undeserving," he replied. Raven began the slow search of her bookcases. She would have to pull out and flip through every single book. But to get Slade out of her room, it was worth it.

"You don't owe them anything, Raven."

_I owe them everything,_ the dark girl thought. She wasn't going to argue with him, for the man knew how to twist words to make it seem that he was right.

"Think about it. Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy. Who do you think they would rather hang out with: a friendly, encouraging spirit – or a somber, moping presence?" Slade asked. Raven slammed a book onto the shelf. As much as she wanted to keep silent, she couldn't.

"I don't mope! I _choose_ not to be social!"

"Then why bother having friends? You spend half your time ignoring them, and the other half shutting them out. You don't trust them with your secrets. You barely even like them. All they do is toy with your emotions, making you work harder to control your powers. My dear, why do you even stay?"

"Obviously you've never had friends," growled Raven.

"What friends?" Slade practically laughed. "I know what real friends are supposed to be, and your teammates are not friends. They regard you as different. A freak. Have they even offered to do what you wanted to do? They watch their movies, play their games, go to their favorite spots, and all you can do is tag along or stay by yourself." Raven hesitated. That was true. They played volleyball, football, or some other group sport Raven wasn't interested in. The boys always rented their action movies – which the girl wasn't fond of. She didn't mind the horror movies, but the boys rarely rented those. However, that one movie had made her so scared that she lost control of her powers. To this day she blamed that on Beast Boy.

She shook her head. She couldn't allow Slade to be right. The dark girl continued her search through her books.

"Why are you trying to discredit my _friends_?" demanded Raven, stressing the last word. She had reached the end of one row and picked the first book from the lower shelf.

"I'm doing no such thing. I am presenting you with the facts that you have always known but never wanted to admit. For some reason you wish to cling to the futile dream of friendship," Slade said briskly.

"Friendship is a reality that escapes you," the girl replied bitingly. "I doubt you could get a friend even if you tried." To that Slade just laughed. Suddenly she found it – the communication device. It was attached to the back of a figurine used as a bookend. Raven pulled it off and just held it in her hand.

"I don't need friends, Raven. And neither do you." The dark girl hesitated a moment before crushing the device with her powers.

-----

**Next update:** September... 11-ish, 12-ish... somewhere around there.


	6. Enter Johnny

**a.n. MGotS- **Thank you so much. :) **gty-** Would you by chance be the same as "gh"? Well, glad you liked 4. **Lulu Cruz-** They're really in character:D That is great news for me... seriously. Arigatou. **Jason, VampireSelene-** Thank you. **gothpoet-** Glad you like. Hope you like this one, too. :)

**Chapter 5**

Raven listened to the deathly silence that engulfed the tower. It seemed to stifle the very life out of her home. She didn't want to admit it, but she almost felt lonely.

"I should've just gone with the guys," the dark girl said aloud. She had returned to the living room to find herself some lunch. She stopped in front of the fridge and looked around. Everything was so still and peaceful – a strange concept in the Titans tower. Raven made herself a sandwich and sat down to eat, the whole while wondering where here friends might be. What if they were lost? Or hurt? What if they couldn't find Starfire? Suddenly she stopped and let out a deep breath. Why was she worried? She was turning into Robin. It was unnecessary. Raven had to have more faith in her friends and not…_worry_. Slade had mentioned that. The dark girl gave a cry and her head fell onto the table. It was like a war was raging in her mind between Slade's seemingly truths and her bond with her friends. It felt like Slade was winning. How could he be right? He was the evil one. Maybe he wasn't right at all. Maybe he was right only in her mind. Whatever the case, Raven knew she needed her friends. No matter how many times Slade told her her friends made her weak, something inside said her friends made her strong. For the time being, the dark girl focused on that voice.

Raven slowly ate her sandwich, every once in awhile looking out the windows. She didn't know if she expected to see the T-ship returning, or Starfire there, or even Slade himself staring back at her. But she kept checking. Once the girl finished her lunch, she decided to see where her friends were and put her mind at ease. Raven pulled the Titans communicator from the back of her belt and opened it.

"Robin? Cyborg? Anyone? Starfire?" She tried various frequencies, but there was never an answer.

"What was I thinking?" she moaned. "They're probably in another galaxy by now." As she returned the device to her belt, alarms suddenly blared in the tower. The dark girl was so startled she fell off her seat. Staggering to her feet, Raven ran over to the large screen as a map of the city popped up. A pulsating red dot appeared on one street, moving quickly. In one corner was a familiar picture of an ugly foe. Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Johnny," she practically spat. With the rest of the Titans away, the dark girl knew she would have to take care of this herself. She pulled her hood over her head and floated out of the room.

The obnoxious roar of the motorcycle could be heard blocks away. It wasn't a regular noise, but a grating sound that made passersby cringe. The driver didn't sound much better. His annoying laugh could be heard almost as far away as the motorcycle. He swerved around cars, going into both lanes, and when the road was blocked by the vehicles, he simply rode over them. He was riding down the main road and was quickly approaching an intersection with another busy street. Raven planned on stopping him before he reached that point, for she figured he would cause numerous accidents.

The dark girl waited, hovering many feet off the ground, and heard that horrible contraption long before she saw it. He drove recklessly, and once he noticed Raven, he sped up. She arched an eyebrow. He wasn't seriously going to try to run her down, was he? Her fists clenched. She was ready to use her powers in a split second. Suddenly the bike turned to the side and skidded to a stop right in front of the Titan. The biker looked up at her.

"Where's bird boy?" he demanded.

"Not here, Johnny," Raven said coldly, eyes narrowing. "Is that the only reason you came back? To find Robin?"

"My business with him ain't done yet," replied Johnny, looking around impatiently.

"You've been beaten twice. Just leave already," the dark girl moaned with annoyance. The biker tipped his helmet up and stared at Raven.

"Well, if he's not here, I'll just wait for him. He's gotta come out sometime."

"Robin is not hiding from you."

"Then why are you the only one here? Either you're the only one brave enough to face me or the only one who bothered to welcome be back." The dark girl just rolled her eyes.

"Whenever bird boy shows up, tell him he owes me a fight," Johnny added before revving the motorcycle. Keeping the front wheel in place he spun the bike around, leaving skid marks from the back tire. Immediately he took off, zipping past Raven. Her cape whipped out behind her from the wind that followed. She turned around, her eyes glowing. Her hand extended toward the escaping biker and she uttered her chant. Darkness engulfed Johnny's bike and it rose into the air. He quickly jumped off, tumbling to the ground. Raven drew the motorcycle closer to herself as the rider stood up. In his hand was a gun that he quickly aimed at the vehicle and fired; the shot exploded against the dark covering. Being so close, the blast knocked the girl to the ground and broke her concentration. The bike crashed down, too, as Raven staggered to her feet. She suddenly stopped. Johnny had the gun aimed right at her. She clenched her fists.

"Just try it," she dared in a threatening tone.

"I have better things to do," replied the biker with a shrug. He picked up his motorcycle and hopped on, keeping the weapon pointed at her the whole time. Raven folded her arms across her chest. If she were the smiling type, a sly smirk would've been plastered on her face. Johnny started the bike and sped off, continuing his destructive path down the street. The dark girl extended a hand.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Darkness surrounded a tall street light, lifting it off the ground. As Johnny neared it, it was swung like a baseball bat and hit the biker right in the gut, throwing him off his bike. He hit the ground and stayed there. The street lamp twisted around the man several times like a snake.

"That oughta hold him," Raven said to herself. After a final glance around the scene, the dark girl flew back to the tower.

The unnerving silence welcomed her back. She, more than the other Titans, loved the rare moments of silence in the tower, but this time it was different… it was odd. The notion that she might hear Slade's voice at any moment seemed to shroud the room: a threat underlining the silence.

Raven looked around the living room. Just as she left it – perfectly quiet. The dark girl sighed. She didn't want quiet anymore. She wanted to hear the boys playing their video games with the volume high – sometimes so loud that the furniture in the room would shake. She wanted to hear Starfire announcing some other Tamaranian holiday or tradition, then trying to get everyone else to celebrate with her. She wanted to hear the smoke detector blaring, letting them know dinner was ready. Heck, she even wanted to hear one of Beast Boy's lame jokes.

Raven shook her head. She couldn't be _that_ desperate.

The dark girl pulled out her communicator and tried to contact her teammates. Again, no answer. She sighed and slumped onto the semicircular couch. Suddenly the large screen flashed on with a picture of Slade. Raven jumped, but quickly regained her cool disposition. A long silence followed before Slade spoke.

"Why do you go out and fight the 'bad guys'?" he asked, a sarcastic emphasis on the last words. "It's not your job. You don't have to do it. That's why there are policemen. You owe the general public nothing."

"I fight because I can. Because I have the powers to do so," she replied. The dark girl figured it useless to stay silent now that he could see her.

"Because you have powers you are singled out and feel it your duty to defend people who barely recognize your existence. Those ungrateful people only remember you when they need saving. You save them again and again, yet get nothing in return. Why even bother?"

"Most of the bad guys have powers like I do. They're too strong for the police. Normal people don't stand a chance against them," argued Raven.

"Normal people? You mean those without powers?" He paused. "Like Robin?" The Titan glared at Slade as he continued. "My dear, if the city folk were suddenly without super heroes, others would step up. Normal people. You live like you owe a debt to the city, like you're bound to this crime-stopping life forever. But you're not. You were never appointed to this line of duty. Nothing is keeping you here."

"It's the right thing to do," she protested. She clenched her fists and stared at him with all the hatred she could muster. His lone, unblinking eye stared back. Why did he never blink? That was just plain freaky. It never showed emotion, unlike her eyes did. It never showed weakness. Was it because he had such a grip over his emotions? Raven envied him for that.

"Who's to say what's right?" replied Slade, shrugging his shoulders.

"Certainly not you," she hissed. Her enemy chuckled.

"Raven, your friends are gone. Are you going to fill in while they're away – fighting their battles, doing their work?"

"Why not? They'd do the same for me," she replied bluntly, folding her arms across her chest. She stood steadfast; she would never sit in his presence. The dark girl had to always be on guard. If Slade could sneak his contactors into the Titans Tower, what else could be there? His robot soldiers, maybe? Raven didn't want to think about it. She just knew she had to keep her senses alert.

"Would they do the same for you?" Slade asked, as if mocking her statement. "If they returned and found you gone, would they look for you after you refused to go look for Starfire? Would they show that amount of friendship after you denied it to them?"

"Starfire is just fine – the boys were overreacting," Raven defended herself, wondering how he knew about the earlier scuffle.

"Is she, now? Are you sure?" The dark girl's eyes narrowed as she glared at the screen.

"What do you know? Tell me!" demanded the Titan.

"Don't expect your friends to return anytime soon," Slade said cooly. With that the screen flashed off.

"He knows something," growled Raven to herself. Her fists clenched and her eyes glowed white. Why was he playing games with her? Why was he messing with her mind? Was this all an elaborate plan to tear her from her friends? _Why couldn't he just leave her alone?_ Her cape swirled around her and she felt her emotions surge. Suddenly the semicircular couch flew up behind her, hit the ceiling and fell back down. The rest of the furniture did likewise as the room trembled. Just as quickly as everything had started, it stopped. Raven's eyes returned to normal and she held her head. She sighed.

"I really need to control my emotions."

---------

**Next update:** Sept. 18th or 19th.


	7. The Deal

**a.n. **Well, this is a bit later than I expected. My apologies, school is eating up my time like a hungry, evil piranha.

**MGotS- **Thank you so much. :D **Jason + spiracle- **Domo arigatou. Hope you like this one as well. **Lulu Cruz-** Ending as in the whole Raven/Slade dialogue or where Raven's power surge? Either way, thankies. More of both to come. :3 **gothpoet-** Yay, thank you. :)

**Chapter 6**

That evening Raven meditated on the top of the Tower. Her teammates hadn't returned yet or even contacted her. Slade's words bothered her. He definitely knew something. A grimace crossed her face as she remembered. She had to find out his plan. She needed her friends. But one thing stuck in her mind: Slade had said "friends" not in a mocking or sarcastic way. Had Slade actually slipped for once? That proved she couldn't trust him. He would say anything to get what he wanted.

"Azarath, Metrion Zinthos."

A frigid wind blew past her, stinging her skin. Raven's eyes flew open to see the sky was dark and the moon waxing. The girl sighed and set her feet on the ground. She stood there for the longest time, searching the sky. Where were her friends? She pulled her cloak tightly around her and returned to the tower.

The next morning, the first thing Raven did was try to contact the Titans again. Again, there was no reply. She wondered if they had even tried to reach her. The dark girl decided that she needed to find out what happened to her friends. Pulling the hood over her head, she flew to the garage. She flipped the light switch and two lights from the ceiling shone on the vehicles, at different ends of the room. One was the newly waxed T-car, the other was the R-cycle. Raven looked from one to the other. She walked over and picked the helmet from the seat of Robin's bike. Of course she wasn't going to fly to where she wanted to go. And the boy wonder would never knew she had taken it... The dark girl slid the helmet on and hopped onto the bike. The engine was smoother to listen to, not as annoying as Johnny's bike. Raven had never driven a motorcycle, but she had seen Robin ride it often enough.

Her cape snapped violently behind her as the bike sped down the street. With her emotions starting to intensify, the dark girl did not want to use her powers anytime soon— even to fly.

It took awhile for Raven to get used to the vehicle; she never expected it to shake so much. The dark girl thought her arms would be completely numb by the time she reached her destination. As she drove, she grew more comfortable with the bike and was soon zipping around traffic almost as recklessly as Johnny.

It wasn't long before she reached the jail. Two guards in black and white body armor led her down numerous, similarly dreary corridors until they reached a certain door. Each guard stood on either side and one swiped a security card through the lock, opening the door. Once Raven entered, it was closed behind her. She stood in silence watching with mild disgust the prisoner sitting on the cot. He either didn't notice her enter or was ignoring her. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Where's Slade, Johnny?" the dark girl demanded monotonely. The inmate, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees, slowly lifted his disheveled head.

"You again? Leave me alone," he replied.

"Tell me where Slade is," repeated the Titan. Johnny shrugged.

"How should I know? And even if I did, why should I tell you anything?" Raven's eyes burned white and the cot was covered in shadow. Suddenly it slammed against the wall, crushing the prisoner. When she put it back down, Johnny tumbled off and onto the floor.

"Where _is_ he?" she hissed as he staggered to his feet.

"I don't know," replied the biker, holding his side. "He ain't never talked to me."

"You're not working for him?" Raven asked.

"Johnny Rancid works for nobody," he snorted. The inmate sat back on his cot and glared at the Titan. "Is that all you came here for?" Johnny questioned impatiently.

"How is it that you show up when everyone else is gone— something I _know_ Slade had a hand in. It's too coincidental. He sent you, didn't he?" persisted Raven, walking closer to the prisoner.

"No, it's called lucky timing. But not that lucky for me. I'm just after Robin." Johnny gave a nonchalant shrug and leaned back against the cold wall. The dark girl clenched her fists. He had to know something. How else would she find Slade? And if she didn't find Slade, she wouldn't find her friends.

With a growl, Raven threw her arm forward and a large shadow hand grasped Johnny's neck, holding him in the air against the wall. His feet dangled above the cot.

"Listen here, Rancid," the Titan hissed, her voice becoming strained and sounding almost possessed, "Slade knows where my friends are, therefore I need to find him. I _will_ find him, and I will do it anyway I can. If you hinder my search, I will hurt you." The shadow hand tightened its grip around the biker's neck.

"Really," choked Johnny, "I don't know nothin'!" He clawed at the hand in vain.

"That's unfortunate," the dark girl said as an enormous shadow raven appeared behind her, wings outstretched.

-

The guards opened the door once a knock came from inside. Raven hastened out and headed down the corridor, back the way she had come. The two men looked from her to the inside of the cell. They saw Johnny huddled in a corner, his arms wrapped around his knees, and rocking back and forth. They exchanged glances and looked back down the hall, but the Titan was gone.

-

Raven almost tripped over the R-cycle once she exited the prison. Her mind had been elsewhere as she wandered through the jail. Now she leaned on the bike, holding her head. What was she doing? The dark girl never wanted her emotions to control her like they did in the jail cell. What was going on? Why was she acting like this? Of course, she desperately wanted to find her friends, but the search was slowly making her more emotional. Raven couldn't lose control of her powers anymore. If she did, it might be disastrous.

The Titan slung herself onto the bike and started the engine. She had to find Slade. He would never tell her where he was hiding, and Johnny had no clue... so how would she find him?

It was almost lunchtime when Raven returned to the Tower, and after sipping breakfast, her stomach was loudly begging for food. The girl ignored it; her mind was again preoccupied. When she wandered into the living room, she found the tv screen on dominated by Slade's unmistakable mask. Raven slowly approached the front of the room, more out of hesitation to talk rather than fear.

"I hear you're looking for me," he said when she reached the couch. The girl arched a brow. Did he have cameras in the jail, too?

"Who told you that?" asked the Titan as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I have my sources." More secrets.

"Where are my friends? What do you know?" demanded the dark girl.

"Patience, Raven. They'll return soon. But in the meantime, why don't we discuss other things?" Slade suggested cooly.

"There _is_ nothing else to discuss. If you don't tell me where they are, I'll hunt you down. And when I find you, you _will_ tell me where they are," the girl sad threateningly, leaning on the couch back and staring as hatefully as she could at the screen.

"An interesting proposal," commented the man. A long pause followed as he thought about it. "Very well. If you find me, I will tell you what you want to know. _If,"_ the stressed word seemed to echo throughout the room, a warning of some evil to come, "...you pass a little challenge when you get here."

"What kind of challenge?" Raven inquired.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be so challenging. Do you accept?" The Titan straightened. He had turned her threat into some sort of a business deal. Raven scowled.

"Fine."

"I look forward to seeing you in person, my dear," said Slade before the screen went dark. Raven ran her hands through her hair and let out a desperate sigh. How was she going to find Slade? She was no closer to figuring it out than she was fifteen minutes ago. The dark girl didn't know what kind of trouble her friends were in, but she knew she couldn't waste time searching on her own. She needed help. But who did she know that was an expert tracker? That could get in and out without being detected? Her eyes suddenly widened. He wasn't exactly an ally, but Raven knew she had something he wanted. Or rather, Robin did. The dark girl just had to get a message out. She figured he'd check the web, so she ran to a computer and typed out: 'I need help finding someone. I have the belt.'

Raven opened the safe in Robin's room and took out the only item inside— the utility belt. There was barely any xenothium left in it, but if the thief wanted the element, he'd have to acquire it himself. The dark girl was about to close the safe when she hesitated. What if he couldn't find Slade? What if he didn't come at all? What if she never found her friends? What if she did find her teammates, but it was too late? Suddenly the safe door was veiled in shadow. It swung wildly to one side, snapped its thick hinges, and crashed to the floor. The loud _bang_ that followed seemed to linger in the room.

"I need to meditate," Raven mumbled.

The dark girl floated above the tower, basking in the warmth of the noontime sun.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." The landscape was quite soothing with the sound of the water and the wind softly whisking past her. Her emotions slowly calmed and her powers were once more tightly under control.

As Raven meditated, she lost all sense of time and was surprised when a gust of icy air smacked her face. The girl opened her eyes to see the setting sun; it almost touched the horizon. She was about to return to meditating when a voice came from behind. It sounded somewhat mechanical yet chillingly familiar.

"I hear you're lookin' for help." The Titan's head snapped around to see the thief standing there, nearly blending in with the long shadows.

"Red X, I didn't expect you to come so quickly," she remarked, turning so that her floating body faced him.

"That was the name of the previous owner. It's just X now. Where's the belt?" he asked impatiently. Raven lifted the accessory from her lap before setting her feet on the ground.

"Just out of curiosity," X began, "who do you want me to find?"

"Slade."

------------

**Next Update:** Sept. 26th or so.

P.S. Yay! Teen Titans starts this Saturday. :3


	8. Journey to the Lair

**a.n.** **MGotS-** Thank you. I'm trying to bring a few more plots into the story. :) **LM22102-** Yes, X becomes quite important later... mwaha. **Jason-** Thank you. I shall try to update once a week... unless I'm just really lazy or school kidnaps me. **spiracle + VampireSelene-** Thank you so much. :D More sneakiness to come! **Boldprint56-** Bwaha, I live to annoy. XD; j/k **raex18-** Hm, yeah, I thought of that too, but I don't write romance. LoL. However, you might pick up on little things here and there... humming like I know something

**Chapter 7**

X's eyes grew wide.

"Wait a minute. I've heard of him. I've also heard about your many clashes with him. You are _not_ dragging me into this conflict."

"If you're as good as you think you are, Slade shouldn't even know you found him. You had to have some skills to steal that suit from Robin," replied Raven. She dangled the belt at eye-level. "Isn't it worth it?" A mechanical sigh vented from the thief's mask.

"Is there a particular reason you wanna find this guy?" he asked. The dark girl eyed him suspiciously. She couldn't trust him totally. It was still unclear whose side he was on.

"Let's just say it'll be in my friends' best interest." A chuckle came from X.

"Fine, don't tell me." His hand extended and he quickly demanded, "Belt." Raven drew the appliance closer to herself.

"First you find Slade."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," X groaned.

"You got into Titans Tower to steal the belt without being detected, you can live without it," replied Raven quickly.

"Yeah, it'd just make my job a whole lot easier and faster," he argued.

"How do I know you just won't take the belt and leave?"

"Well, you'll just have to trust me on that, now, won'tcha?" Even with the mechanical ring in his voice, it sounded like he was smiling.

"There's no honor among thieves," Raven quoted. X's eyes narrowed.

"Do you want my help or not?" The dark girl looked from him to the belt in her hand and back again. Slowly she extended it forward, offering it to him. The thief quickly grabbed the belt and snapped it around his waist.

"No extra zinothium?" he asked chidingly. "Aw, come on..."

"You'll have to come up with that yourself," said Raven.

"No honor among thieves, huh?" he remarked before turning and disappearing into the shadows. The dark girl pulled her cloak tightly around her as she looked back to the setting sun.

Soon she returned inside and went to the Titans mainframe. When the screen turned on, it showed a map of the streets of the city and a pulsating dot moving along the roadways. Raven had attached one of Robin's tiny tracking devices to the belt. If X double-crossed her, she'd know. What's more, she could find him.

Suddenly Raven's stomach growled and she was finally aware of how hungry she really was. She hadn't eaten all day. The dark girl wandered into the kitchen area and discovered a box of pizza in the fridge.

"How long has that been in there?" Raven asked herself. There were only two slices left, and they didn't have mold growing on them, so the girl determined them safe to eat. She sat at the table with the food in her hand, however she didn't feel like eating. She was too worried about her friends to eat. Raven jumped when her Titans communicator went off, playing the familiar jingle. With a hopeful smile, the girl pulled it from her belt and opened it. Instead of her friends, Slade stared back. The Titan's smile dropped instantly. She felt like shutting the link off right then, but figured it unwise to do that to someone like Slade. Instead, she decided to be difficult.

"You're interrupting my dinner. If it's really that important, call back later."

"Humorous," Slade said sarcastically.

"Leave me alone. You've already harassed me once today," stated Raven, taking a bite out of her pizza.

"I am merely calling to up the wager," he said. The dark girl arched an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"If you win my challenge, I'll tell you where your friends are. However, if you lose... you're mine." Raven nearly choked on her food.

_"What?"_

"If you lose you will be my apprentice. You will cease to be a Titan and instead work for me; fight for me," he replied. The dark girl reeled back in her seat, plainly showing her disgust.

_"Why would I ever agree to that?"_

"Because," sneered the man, "if you don't the wager is off. And even if you do find me, which it seems you're in no hurry to do, I shall tell you nothing."

"I'm not just going to quit the team," Raven retorted quickly.

"What team? You're the only one left." The dark girl stared at Slade suspiciously.

"So why not attack the city now? Why are you playing these games?" asked the Titan.

"My dear, I'd rather have you on my side than in my way. It would make things much easier. So, do we have a deal?" Raven vented a troubled sigh. This was the man that not even Robin could beat. He was the craftiest and most dangerous villain the Titans had fought yet. He seemed to have even survived lava. And to find out the location of her friends, she was supposed to beat his challenge? Raven had no other choice— she was running out of options.

"Fine. It's a deal."

"Excellent," Slade said almost in a hiss. "This is to be a most exciting meeting." With that, the small communicator screen went dark. Raven hooked it back onto her belt and stared at her half-eaten slice of pizza. Her mind was elsewhere; debating her decision. Whatever Slade's challenge, she had to win. She didn't have to worry about finding him— that was X's job. The dark girl just had to be ready for some sort of fight. That meant she had to get back to training. And not just honing her powers, but checking up on Robin's fighting styles, too. By the time her mind phased back to reality, Raven realized it was near midnight. The dark girl finished her meal, pulled her hood over her head and returned to her room.

The next morning, the Titan woke up early and headed immediately to the training room. She hung her cape up and went to work. She meditated, practiced her powers and ran through Robin's training exercises.

By that night she was tired and dripping with sweat. She stumbled into the living room to find nourishment. The dark girl didn't even notice X sitting on the semicircular couch until a minute later. When she finally did see him, she started.

"How long have you been there?" Raven asked with a tone, opening the fridge.

"Awhile. Don't bother looking in there. You don't have anything good to eat," said X, getting up and jumping over the back of the couch. "Well, don't you look pretty?" he commented dryly. The dark girl wiped her forehead on her sleeve and glared at the thief.

"Are you here to tell me something useful?" snapped the Titan. After working all day she wasn't about to put up with an annoying amateur.

"All right, yeah. I found your man." Raven's eyes widened.

"Really? Already? Where is he?" she demanded. X's hands went up defensively,

"Take it easy. I'll show you. But you don't look up to a search right now."

"What do you mean?" asked the Titan, who was still panting from her all-day workout. X gave an amused snort.

"I'll come back tomorrow." As he turned away, Raven grabbed his arm and jerked him back, shouting,

"No! You'll take me to him tonight! Right now! _Where is he?_" Quickly the thief pulled an x out of his belt and slapped it on Raven's forehead. She balked, still trying to protest, then collapsed. Before she fell to the floor, X caught her up and carried her over to the couch. After setting her down, he silently found his way out of the tower.

Raven moaned as she came to. She wasn't as exhausted as she was last night, however her forehead stung. Bright light shone through the windows. The dark girl shot up.

_"How long was I out?"_ she cried worriedly to herself.

"Not long kid," a mechanically-altered voice replied, "only about ten hours." Raven jumped up to see X leaning against the counter in the kitchen area. She quickly pulled the red weapon from her head and threw it onto the floor.

_"Your stupid toy knocked me out for ten hours?"_

"No, my stupid toy knocked you out. _You_ slept for ten hours. I told you you weren't up to it last night," he replied, an undertone of smugness clinging to his words.

"Fine, you were right. But I'm up now. Take me to Slade," ordered Raven, stalking over to the thief.

"What, no breakfast?" X joked. When he saw the evil glare she gave him, his shoulders dropped.

"Okay, right. But are you sure you're ready? He's got his lair tricked out with some pretty high-tech gadgets. He's a smart guy."

"You're telling me," mumbled the Titan. She paused for a moment, then was suddenly enshrouded in a large shadow raven and phased through the ceiling. As he waited for her to return, X checked the small refrigerator again.

A few minutes later she sunk back into the room. Raven had put a cape on, one longer and darker than her normal one, and replaced her jewel belt with one of Robin's utility belts.

"Not gonna do your hair, too?" questioned the thief with a tilt of his head. The dark girl had half the mind to punch him out the window and let him drop to the rocky island numerous stories below. But unfortunately, she needed him. Raven growled.

"Just shut up and lead me to Slade."

"Only 'cause you asked so nicely," replied X. He walked over to a large window and stared out across the water.

"Can you fly us to the southeastern corner of the city?" he asked. The dark girl walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. Quickly the large shadow raven enveloped them both and phased through the window.

Awhile later they landed and the dark figure dissipated. Raven looked around suspiciously. This wasn't like the downtown part of Jump City. Here there were many dilapidated buildings with broken out windows boarded over. There wasn't a soul on the street, though the girl could feel the piercing gazes of people from the shadows of the buildings. The girl couldn't believe this was the same city.

"You're sure this is where he is?" questioned Raven, her nervous gaze sweeping the area once more.

"Yes. I thought you'd actually like this kind of place," X said, starting to walk up the broken sidewalk. The girl didn't comment, but silently followed him. Why would Slade be in a run-down place like this? It was so far away from downtown— where everything important was.

"You better not've double-crossed me," the Titan hissed. X looked back at her over his shoulder.

"You're not a very trusting girl, you know that?"

"I trust my friends," she said flatly.

"Look around. Your friends aren't here. So you're just gonna have to trust me," said the thief in a cold tone. Raven vented a sigh and pulled her cloak tightly around herself.

Soon they reached a river and X led her to a large drain pipe jutting out of the bank. It carried the excess water from the city sewer. The boy jumped into it and could stand straight without even touching the top of the metal pipe. The water barely covered his feet. Raven followed, floating a few inches above the water.

"Where are we going?" she asked as the thief kept walking farther and farther into the pipe. The only thing that could be heard besides the echo of her voice was the sound of flowing water and splashing footsteps.

"Not much." Suddenly he stopped and looked back at Raven.

"Hear that?" X asked, his voice strained with urgency. The girl listened carefully.

"What? It just sounds like..."

"Water!" the thief shouted. Further down the pipe came the echo of raging water, punching against the sides of the tube in its mad dash for the river. Already the water was up to X's ankles. Suddenly the two could see violent waves coming right for them. Instinctively, Raven grabbed her guide, pressed him against the metal side of the pipe and encased them both in a shadow barrier. A second later the water crashed into it, then slipped by as it continued its journey to the river.

"Well," X shouted over the raging noise, "I guess he knows we're here." A minute later it finally ran out and the water returned to the normal, shallow level. The shield vanished and the two continued on their way.

After a few more minutes of walking, an exasperated sigh from Raven echoed off the walls.

"You said it wasn't much farther. This pipe is a mile long and the light is almost gone. Slade already knows we're here, but _where is he?_"

"Keep your cool," X snapped back. This main line meets another one a few feet up. It branches off to the right." A little more walking and they found a circular opening in the wall, where a smaller pipe was spilling more water into the main tube. It was only large enough for someone to crawl through.

"Just follow this a little bit until you reach a dead end. Turn right, following the flow of water. It'll lead you to a pool, and across that is the entrance to your man's crib," he explained. A silence followed as the Titan just stared at X.

"How did you _find_ all of this?" she asked with a hint of awe. The thief shrugged a shoulder.

"Secret of the trade, kid. Well, here's where I leave. Have fun." As he passed her, Raven said,

"Wait— how do I see down here? It'll be completely dark. And I don't exactly have Starfire's powers." The thief pulled from his belt another x, and upon seeing it Raven backed up defensively. Her guide chuckled.

"It's not one of those. This one was made to short-circuit Cyborg. It'll give off a little light. It'll be all you'll need." With that, he tossed it to her and continued back the way he had come. Raven quickly figured out how to turn it on and watched as sparks like lightning danced and circled round the weapon. X was right that it only gave a little light. The dark girl flew headfirst into the pipe, keeping the sparking x at arm's length in front of her. Like he said, she came to a dead end and headed right. A little later the pipe opened into a large, rectangular room. The water flowed out of the tube and collected in a pool many feet below. Slowly, Raven flew to the opposite wall, searching for some kind of entrance. Then she found it— a door on top of a small ledge, jutting from the wall. It was a metal door with a bar that had to be turned to be unlocked. Shadow covered it and the bar spun around wildly. The door opened. Inside was Slade's lair. It looked as if he had taken over one of the sewer control rooms. Three lights hung from the ceiling, dimly illuminating the area around them. Some stairs clung to most of the walls, leading up to shadowed levels. The rest of the room was cluttered with Slade's inventions. Cautiously the Titan wandered into the room.

"Welcome," the familiar ominous voice exclaimed, the haunting echo never seeming to fade. Raven spun around, trying to see into the darkness of the level above. When she turned back she started. There was Slade, standing directly underneath the middle light.

"I see you've found me. I applaud you on your technique— using others to do your work for you," he said. The girl walked over and stood underneath the first lamp's light.

"I'm not here for senseless chitchat. I want to get this challenge over with so I can find my friends," she stated.

"Ambitious, aren't we?" commented Slade. "Very well. Here is your challenge:" He paused as he reached behind his back and pulled a rod that grew into a fighting staff. "Defeat me."

--

**Next Update:** Around Oct. 3rd


	9. Raven vs Slade

**a.n.** aaah! -pulls hair out- Yet again, the show has taken my ideas before I've gotten them out... ¬¬; First, it was my whole plot of Slade coming back for Raven. I started creating this story in the 3rd season, and then I find the 4th season was completely dedicated to that. x.x; Now, in the show all the villains are being rounded up to fight the Titans...and that was my idea too... just way later in the story. Oy. No fair. ...just thought I'd rant.

**MGotS-** Thank you. More cliffhangers to come. Like this chapter... sorta. **raex18-** Thankee. It's good you're cool with it. :) **LM22102-** I've been wondering, is that Feb. 21 of 2002 or just some random numbers? And thank you. I'm glad you like it. :D Yes, have a few chapters written up til now. **Ravenalltheway-** I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you like Raven... LoL j/k Thank you very much and I hope you like what's to come. **ShadowDevil-** I must say, I read your review late Tuesday night when I was really frusterated with this unfinished essay due Wednesday morning (I suck at essays, believe me), and that just so brightened my night. LoL. So thank you for that and for the kind review. Hope you also enjoy this chapter. :) **VampireSelene-** Wow. o_O;; I'm really glad you like it so much. That's great. :3 And here I thought my story was kinda dull in parts... LoL. **Boldprint56-** Thank you much. And I hope you like the fight scene... it's challenging for me to write a lot of action that's supposed to happen in a very short amount of time. Hopefully it doesn't sound weird or repetitive...

**Chapter 8**

Raven started. Defeat _Slade_? If she didn't, she would be his. If she did, he wouldn't be able to tell her where her friends were. The man could tell she realized it and chuckled.

"Quite the conundrum, isn't it?" The dark girl took a step backwards.

"I don't accept," she said, hands tightly clenched into fists. Slade stuck one end of his staff into the ground and leaned against it.

"You wish to forfeit? That would be the same as losing, my dear. And here I was looking forward to a good fight. I guess you really don't want to find your friends as much as you thought," replied the man smugly.

"It's an unfair challenge!" Raven snapped.

"You more than anyone else should know life is never fair. Get used to it." The Titan scowled at that.

"Now, do you wish to rethink your decision?" Raven knew it would be the only way to find out anything about her friends. The girl reached inside her cloak and drew from Robin's utility belt his metal fighting staff, which she extended with a twirl of it. Quickly she assumed a fighting stance.

Slade tilted his head. "Don't disappoint me, Raven." A short silence followed. Suddenly she lunged for the man, swinging the staff above her head. The Titan brought the weapon down as hard as she could, hoping to bash his head in, but Slade effortlessly blocked it. They parried a little: strike, block, strike, block. Quickly Slade swung his staff around and hit Raven in the back of the knees. Instantly she fell. Once she got up, she noticed Slade wasn't there. But she heard him. Her eyes flashed up as she tried to see into the shadowed level above. Cautiously she flew up, always listening for her opponent. The only things hidden in the darkness were metal walkways, both hugging the walls and stretching across the room. There were hand rails on either side, but the girl figured they wouldn't be much help if she were pushed over the edge.

Up there the shadows didn't seem as thick anymore. Even though Raven still couldn't see clearly, she could hear perfectly in the deathly silence. She heard pounding footsteps behind her and quickly spun around, putting up a block. But she wasn't fast enough. The girl felt an excruciatingly painful slap fall across her face as she heard the _crack_ of metal on skin. She was thrown back several feet and landed in a heap on the walkway. Raven slowly rose to her feet, face stinging. The Titan heard him progressing toward her at a normal pace and saw a faint shimmer of his mask. Quickly she jumped back further, pulling two small bombs out of Robin's belt and throwing them at him. An explosion of light and smoke followed. A minute later, to the girl's horror, she saw a shape moving through the thinning smoke. Raven whipped her head around, looking for something she could use. Her eyes fell on the guard rail.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she chanted quickly. A portion of the rail was covered in black and broke away from its supports, coiling and wriggling like a snake.

Suddenly Slade bolted forward, expertly swinging his staff. Raven reached her other hand out and his weapon was consumed by shadow and wrenched out of his hands. Then the rail was wrapped around his shoulders and coiled down to his waist. The man stopped dead in his tracks as he struggled with his bindings. Raven took this opportunity to swing her rod around and nail Slade's chest. The force of the blow was so hard that it pushed him to the edge of the walkway. With the railing missing, he fell off and plummeted to the level below. The girl hurried over to the side and looked down, but it was impossible to see anything in the darkness. The three lights on the other side of the room were no help. Raven dropped off the side and floated down to the floor. There she found the metal railing on the ground, cut into a few pieces.

The Titan growled. How could he always do this? When he fought the team and they thought they had him, he mysteriously escaped. It was downright frustrating.

Raven heard something behind her and spun around, dragging her hand. When she stopped, her hand kept moving over her, leaving a shadow barrier in its wake. Slade's fist hit the shield with no effect. However, his sudden attack startled her and she jumped back, shadow dissipating. The man advanced again as he pulled his arm back for another punch. Raven twirled her staff, creating another barrier which Slade hit. When that one vanished, the man rushed forward and punched the Titan. It knocked her to the floor, but she quickly jumped to her feet. Slade punched her again. The girl used her staff to balance herself to keep from falling once more. Her opponent thrust his arm forward, but it was stopped, his fist encompassed in shadow. Raven turned the man's fist on himself and had it punch his face. She did that repeatedly as she backed up.

"A sense of humor, I see," Slade growled as he tried to restrain his shadowed hand.

"I don't have one," retorted the girl. With a wave of her arms, the man was encased in a large, dark bubble. It rose a few dozen feet into the air, then rushed down and slammed into the floor. It made a shallow crater, Slade lying in the center of it. Raven stalked over to the edge of the indentation and leaned against her staff.

"You're defeated," she said curtly.

"Think again," came the low hiss. Immediately his hand shot into his belt, withdrew something and threw it in the girl's direction just as quickly. It exploded at her feet, choking the air with smoke. Raven coughed as she stepped back. When the cloud dissipated, the man was gone once again.

"If you're such an expert fighter, why do you hide so much?" the girl called out as she scanned the shadows.

"For your benefit, mostly. To give you a break before my next attack," his voice echoed off the dark walls.

"Oh, and I suppose if I win it's because you _let_ me?" she retorted. Slade laughed in reply.

"Stop hiding! Come out and fight!" ordered the dark girl.

"Only because you insisted," came the reply. Suddenly she heard the whistling of a flying object behind her. Raven spun, putting up a shadow barrier that completely encompassed her. One of Slade's weapons struck the shield and exploded. As more smoke clouded the air, the dark girl broke through the dissipating barrier and ran in the opposite direction. Raven's fighting staff was knocked out of her hand and skidded across the floor into the shadows. Instantly she turned to see Slade jumping through the air, foot first, right for her. A shadow raven completely engulfed her and flew back up to the walkways. She was dropped off on one of the paths that followed the perimeter of the room. After the dark shape vanished, the Titan was left leaning against the railing, catching her breath.

"And you accuse _me_ of hiding?" Slade's words echoed off the walls. She gasped. His voice sounded incredibly close. He was up on the walkway with her. She saw the glint of the gold side of his mask accompanied by his slow footsteps. She wondered a second how he got up there so fast, but then began thinking of how to attack him.

"You have put up a good fight, Raven," Slade remarked. "You are indeed a worthy opponent. However, both my patience and interest in this fight wane." At that the Titan put up her fists defensively. She didn't like where his speech was heading.

"I'm sure with more time and training you will be able to defeat me. But not today. I look forward to having you as an apprentice." Quickly Raven sent two shadow beams racing for Slade, but he evaded them as he lunged toward her. He thrust his hand forward, catching her chin and forcing it up, while his other hand unclasped Robin's utility belt. The girl, still stunned from the blow, wobbled a few steps backwards. Slade grabbed her hood and pulled it down further over her head. Then he took the sides of her cape and wrapped them tightly around her, so her arms were pinned inside. It was like she was wearing a strait jacket. As Raven tried to wriggle out of it, the man picked her up and dropped her over the side of the walkway.

Feeling the rush, the dark girl used her powers to tear through her cape. She panicked upon seeing her situation. She tried to fly, but only succeeded in slowing down the rate of her fall. Raven hit the ground, right in the middle of the shallow crater Slade had made earlier.

The man, leaning on his arms and watching her fall, had an air of triumph about him. His eye narrowed when she reached the floor, and he said with smug curtness, "You're defeated."

.

Raven was startled when she came to. She was in her own bed, in her own room at Titans Tower. Her head was still a little groggy, and she waited awhile before getting up. The dark girl couldn't imagine how she could've gotten home, or even how long she had been unconscious. When she finally did crawl out of bed, she wandered over to the window and opened it. A cool lake breeze gushed in. It really was the tower- and not some extremely detailed replica.

Raven heard something outside her door. Were her friends back? Had they saved her from Slade? Was it X? Could he have snuck into the lair again and taken her out? Quickly she crossed the room and opened the door. There, in the hallway, was something she certainly hadn't expected- Slade's robot soldiers. The dark girl gave a shout as she jumped back. Reflexively, she attacked the two androids with bolts of shadow. Raven scanned her room for her cape, but then remembered what had happened to it. Before she could et another one, the girl heard more noise somewhere down the hall. The dark girl raced out of her room and headed for the living room. She destroyed all the robots she came across, which in her opinion was far too many intruders in her home.

When she reached the living room, she stopped short. Raven didn't even notice the numerous androids in the room. What caught her eye was Slade himself standing behind the semicircular couch. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was carefully inspecting everything.

_"__What __are __you __doing __here?_ Get out of my home!" Raven exclaimed, fists growing black. She flew forward, toward Slade, but was caught and dragged down by his robot soldiers before she even reached him. The man slowly made his way over to the girl, who could barely be seen under all the androids.

"Your home?" he repeated, stopping right in front of her. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, my dear. This tower is mine now."

..

**Next ****Update:** A week from today...ish. 10th, possibly?


	10. Change in Plans

**a.n. **Monaco? _MONACO?_ Saturday's Teen Titans... **MONACO?** This is getting annoying! I wrote that some character was going off to Monaco... in a later chapter... ¬¬; Wow. If they have some of the good guys being rounded up like they rounded up the bad guys, then I'm SERIOUSLY going to be annoyed at how much they're taking from my unpublished story. ;_; LoL

But on a happier note... 'twas nice to hear Hotspot talk more. :)

**LM22102-** Dang... you replied in like 11 minutes after I posted the chapter. o_O;; And thank you. You'll see in this chapter what became of the other Titans. X3; Bwaha. **Boldprint56-** Wow, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it. ^^; And cool... you liked the fight scene. Thank you. :) **spiracle-** You liked it so much you replied twice? hehe j/k I tried to make Raven as resistant as possible... because it would be weird to me if she conformed right away... so I hope she's in character throughout the story... please tell me if she's not. **VampireSelene-** Aw, thank you. :) And did Slade leave Raven in her room? Wow, that's kinda... -hem- ... nah, he probably had his soldiers drop her off. Truthfully, I've never thought about it. ^^;; However, Slade visits her room in this chapter... **hpfan717-** hp as in Harry Potter? :) Thank you very much. I look forward to your reviews as well. :3 **raven717-** There's a lot of interest in those numbers "717". hehe. Anyway, thank you. :) And I shall try to update forever. ...or at least until the story runs out. Whichever comes first. X3;

**Chapter 9 **

"_WHAT?_" cried Raven. Her eyes immediately began to glow white. All the robot soldiers were thrown off the girl as a shadow field burst from her. She glared at Slade, her fists covered in darkness.

"Calm down, my dear. It was far too much space for you to take care of by yourself, anyway," Slade replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Besides, you should be resting and recovering your strength."

"You can have as many holes in the sewer you want- you could be the rat king for all I care- but you will _not_ take over Titans tower!" Raven protested. She shot a shadow beam at the newest robot soldier who had entered the room, destroying it.

"There are no Teen Titans left. You are no longer one, either, now that you work for me." At that he held up one hand and showed her Titans communicator. His grasp tightened, breaking the device into numerous, sparking pieces. Raven gritted her teeth. He had destroyed her only means of communication with her friends. He had taken over her home. He had claimed her.

The shadows around her painfully clenched fists grew. Behind Slade, the semicircular couch was engulfed in blackness and slowly lifted off the ground.

"Why Titans tower? I thought exposure to the light would've killed you." Slade chuckled.

"I wanted a place on the water," he replied, gesturing toward the windows that overlooked the bay.

"So get a seaside villa," retorted the dark girl. The couch continued to rise.

"But also just the concept:" Slade continued, not acknowledging her statement, "Moving into the conquered enemy's fortress. The people of this city will quickly realize their heroes are gone."

"'Conquered'? You only fought me- not the rest of the team," Raven said quickly.

"Yes, but I got rid of your little friends first." At that the girl snapped. With a scream, she sent the large furniture piece hurtling for Slade. Upon noticing it, he quickly jumped out of its way, letting it crash down at the point where he used to be.

"You shouldn't let your emotions control you, Raven. Not with your powers," he chided, regaining his composure. "Face it, my dear. Your friends aren't coming back. You would do well to just forget about them. Without them, your powers and meditating will most definitely improve," added the man briskly. Raven didn't know what to do. She wanted to resist. She wanted to kick Slade and all his robots out of the tower. She wanted to kick _him._

The girl stepped back, her hands holding her head. So many emotions were rushing through her. So many unsurpressed feelings running rampant, making her want to act different ways. Some emotions she wasn't even used to feeling. How long had it been since she meditated? Raven had to control her powers. If she didn't, the girl could end up hurting herself.

More robot soldiers had entered the room and Slade motioned for them to come closer.

"Take this girl back to her room. If she resists, stun her, but you are not to attack her. She's our guest," the man said. Two androids picked Raven, who was still wobbling, up by the arms and carried her out of the room.

Just then a transmission appeared on the screen at the front of the room. A woman with long black hair and a hateful gaze stared in.

"Slade!" she shouted. "I have tried forever to reach you. There's a problem."

"Oh, did I forget to leave a new contact address? It must've slipped my mind," he replied, his tone exuding insincereness. "Now, what have you done _this_ time, Blackfire?"

"Don't talk like it's my fault. I met a whole lot more resistance this time from the people of Tamaran. It got so hot back there I had to leave," she argued. Slade could see from her surroundings she was piloting a ship.

"What about the Titans?" the man quickly asked. At the same time he cursed himself for ever cutting a deal with Blackfire. This was why he rarely made alliances- the other man would always screw the plan up somehow.

"They're with me. Don't bother asking how _I__'__m_ doing," snapped the black-haired woman. Slade ignored the remark.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm headed to Earth. I'll be there in a couple hours."

"No, don't come here! Find some remote rock to crash on," he ordered, for a second almost sounding desperate.

"No can do. I'm wanted in just about every other inhabited world in the three nearest galaxies, but I can still hide out on your planet. I'll see you soon, cyclops." With that the link was terminated. Slade gave an enraged shout before punching the back of the couch, leaving a permanent indent. That woman was seriously going to screw up everything. She couldn't bring the rest of the Titans anywhere near the tower- that would be disastrous. If Raven ever found out where her friends were, there was no telling how she would react, especially in her current emotional state. Now that she had been separated from the rest of her team physically, Slade had to work on separating her emotionally. Quickly, too.

Raven was shoved into her room and the door quickly shut behind her. The dark girl spun and hit the button next to the door frame. The metal door slid open and there stood three robot soldiers, all pointing their weapons at the Titan. Raven pressed the button again and let the door close. So she wasn't locked in. The girl was surprised with the freedom Slade was allowing her. Quickly she moved over to her closet, grabbed a cape, then went to the window, opened it, and flew out.

She climbed through the air until she had reached the top of the tower. There she found a multitude of robot soldiers, pacing around the roof. Upon seeing her, they all aimed their guns at her. Reflexively, Raven made a shadow barrier. However, she couldn't stop all the laser fire, and she was hit a couple of times. Stunned, she slowly lost consciousness and fell from the sky, heading straight fro the rocky ground. One of the soldiers put his gun away and jumped off the roof. Propelled by small rockets in the sides of his feet, he quickly flew after her and caught her before she reached the base of the tower. The soldier made a large turn over the water and headed back for Raven's open window.

When Raven woke a couple of hours later, she found Slade standing over her, his hateful glare piercing through her.

"Get out of my room," she protested weakly.

The man ignored her statement and said with forced calmness, "I consider myself very generous with you. I gave you a second chance. I would give you my advice and help to improve your meditation and increase your powers. I gave you almost complete freedom around here and you try to escape?" Slade walked around to the other side of her bed so his back was to the lone window. "You made a deal, Raven. Are you going back on your word?"

"I gave you my word as a Titan. As you keep reminding me, I'm not a Titan anymore. That word means nothing now," she replied, crossing her arms across her chest. Slade leaned over her bed, grabbed her around the neck and jerked her toward him.

"Do _NOT_ test me!" he exclaimed. The force of his voice took the girl aback. She had never seen him lose his temper, and this side of him inspired fear. Raven wanted to fight back with all her powers, but she knew it would be in vain. Somehow she would end up losing and sink even deeper into Slade's mistrust. If the dark girl ever wanted to get out of there, she would have to stay on the man's good side- whatever that was.

Finally Slade let her go, pushing her back. He silently walked over to the door, then stopped and looked back at her. He could plainly see the surprise in her expression, but he sensed a hint of fear, too. The consolation that he was winning helped him to calm down. His voice was normal once more, but choked with impatience.

"Be in the training room in one hour. You are no longer permitted outside. If you do leave this tower, my robots will know and they will be able to stop you. Your witch powers are impressive, but no match for us." With that he exited the room, leaving Raven to rub her neck.

.

Slade reentered the living room to see the few guards, who had been stationed there, in pieces. There was a figure resembling a caped guard hunched over the small refrigerator, examining the contents. When he turned around, Slade could see he was obviously not one of his, because the stranger wore a skull face on his mask with an x upon his forehead.

..

I love X. He interferes so much. :3

**Next ****Update:** October 17th, most likely.


	11. First Practice

**a.n. ****LM22102-** I had fun writing about Blackfire. Poor Slade, he has to put up with so much... LoL. Yes, Raven fights quite a bit, but slowly she'll realize power is addicting... :3 And I love your description of X. hehe. **gracefulraven-** Thank you, glad you like it. :) **Boldprint56-** Yes, X shall be in the story a lot from here on out. I was a little disappointed in the show when he was with all the villains... he's one of the good guys, I tell you! :/ hehe. anyway... **VampireSelene-** Wow, thanks. :D But unfortunately, it'll have to end sometime. If it doesn't, it'll just get... repetitive. o.O; **Kendra ****Chetnova-** LoL wow. Well, tell voices #15, 26, and 49-63 that I am continuing. And I'm not that filthy... I try to bathe everyday. heh... Anyway, thank you for the review and I hope you and all your voices like this next chapter, too. :) **psycicflower-** I was wondering what happened to you. Bwaha, cookies... nice. :33 I actually thought with a one-word title, it'd be easier to remember. ^^; heh, anyway, glad you like it so far... and you'll just have to decide for yourself what side X's on. He's tricksy. Okay, I think it's pretty clear to see, but you'll just have to read and find out. LoL.

**Chapter 10**

"A change of management, yet the same bad food?" X said, leaning against the counter. Slade made his way to the center of the room, all the while keeping his eye on the intruder.

"You certainly are a talented young man, sneaking around undetected, locating me multiple times... but why are you here?" the man asked with a tilt of his head. He stared hard and searchingly at the boy, trying both to intimidate him and read his thoughts. X shrugged nonchalantly.

"I just wanted to stop by and see the Titans' legendary arch nemesis."

"Charming," Slade replied tonelessly, his eye narrowing. "But now that you've come, I suggest you leave. I'm a busy man. I don't have time to entertain children." With that he turned his back to X and walked over to the windows on the far side of the room. The thief shrugged and headed for the large doors, after checking the refrigerator one last time. As he reached the top of the steps, the doors slid open.

X stopped in the doorway, looked back, and asked, "Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do to the Titan?" Slade turned his head to stare at the young man from the corner of his eye. X was quickly becoming a nuisance.

"Not that it's any concern of yours, but I have great things planned for my new apprentice." He kept staring over his shoulder at the thief, trying to intimidate him into leaving. X immediately took the hint, but sauntered down the hall at a slow pace. Just as the doors closed behind him, Blackfire appeared on the screen.

"I'm here. I was expecting some sort of welcoming party or _something_," she announced, an eyebrow arched and a cynical expression plastered on her face.

"Welcoming parties, as I recall, are used only for those one wishes to welcome. Therefore I don't see where your confusion lies," replied Slade briskly. Blackfire shot him a deadly glare.

"Well, Sparky, I'm coming over anyway. And don't even try to lock me out. I've been to the Titan's tower before; I know how to get in." Before Slade could protest, the link terminated. Since nothing was in his immediate reach to punch, he just vented a growl, imagining himself choking Blackfire. His hands reflected his thoughts as he clenched and released his fists, sometimes shaking them as if to snap the invisible neck.

That scene was what Raven found when she entered the room a moment later, two guards at her heels. Slade immediately regained his cool air, straightening his shoulders.

"Don't let me interrupt your seizure," the girl said almost in a mumble, walking into the kitchen area.

"What are you doing out of your room?" demanded Slade, critically looking at her. As Raven reached the fridge, her head snapped back to stare at him. Her expression was something between disbelief and hatred.

"I thought I wasn't a prisoner here."

"You aren't."

"I can go around the tower as I please. Go into whatever rooms I want. It's still my house, isn't it?"

"For the most part, yes." The girl gave a half nod at that, wondering what kind of trap was in Slade's words. Absently, she opened the refrigerator and rummaged around the shelves in search of food.

"So, " she continued after a pause, "I should be able to walk around my house unquestioned, unhindered, and without being followed." At that she directed her gaze to the two robot soldiers behind her. "After all... that's only how a prisoner is treated." Slade clasped his hands behind his back and slowly made his way over to Raven.

"My dear, this works both ways. If you don't want to be treated like a prisoner, don't act like one. To give you complete freedom, I need to be able to trust you."

Raven sat at the counter, food in hand, and listened as the man continued. She was just relieved he had a calmer tone than before.

"Why do you wish to run? We made a bet Raven, I won. If you keep your end of the wager, you will regain your freedom. Can you do that, my dear?" His voice sounded almost hypnotic, and as he held her gaze, she felt pressured to answer,

"Y...yes." Her eyes quickly fell down and she stared diligently at her food.

"Good," replied Slade, a relieved tone slipping into his statement. Noticing it, he quickly added in his normal, dark voice, "Eat up. Our training today will be long." He almost sounded like he was gloating.

Raven didn't take her eyes off her food until she heard him leave the room, followed by the two guards. Silently she picked at the bread in her hand. The girl felt too sick to eat a full meal. It was a mentally induced sickness, caused by the realization that Slade had finally won and her friends weren't there to help her. Raven couldn't bear the horrible thought, yet she couldn't stop thinking of it. As she pinched off a piece of bread, the plate beside her was shrouded in darkness and shattered. A table across the room was similarly turned black and thrown all the way into the opposite wall. That wall, where the main entrance to the room was, was X, leaning in the doorway.

"I can see shy you had to lose a bet to work for that guy," he spoke up. Raven gasped and her head snapped to face him.

"It took you awhile to figure all that out," she growled, glaring at him. She was hoping she could shoot lasers out of her eyes like Starfire and kill that annoying invader before he could say anything else stupid. X casually made his way down to the kitchen area.

"He's a dangerous guy. What I wouldn't give to see the whole, wide-screen picture. But what I've seen so far isn't bad, either." Again he checked the refrigerator, as if it could have been replenished since the last time he looked. With a disappointed sigh he closed the door.

"If you're here to warn me about him, you're completely too late. If you're here to congratulate him, go find him. He's obviously not here," said Raven coldly, picking at her food again. The girl was annoyed that it was impossible to tell what side he was on- and was even more annoyed that X also seemed to not know.

"No thanks. I've already talked to him. I can see now why you needed my help finding him," X added, leaning his elbows on the counter. He was directly across from her, but hardly looked at her when he spoke. Instead, he kept searching the room, constantly expecting some robot guard to enter. "I tell ya, his plan, at least the parts of it I've heard, is great. Flawlessly executed. Except, I don't think he considered everything and it looks like it's unraveling. This'll be interesting to watch."

"What do you know?" Raven demanded, her tone suddenly deep and harsh. X shrugged a shoulder.

"Not all that much more than you. You'll know soon, too. Now _that__'__s_ where it'll get interesting," he replied, a laughing tone in his voice. Immediately Raven's eyes glowed a bright white, and a clawed, shadowed hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbed X around the chest, and forced him against the wall. The girl seemed to grow and loom over the thief and her voice had a strange, demonic hiss to it. Her eyes changed to red.

"It would be wise not to gloat in front of me. Now if you don't want to be sent to a dimension of _extreme __pain_ and _torture,_ you will tell me _everything_ you know! _What __do __you __know?_"

Before the terrified X could answer, Slade walked back into the room, three robots following. The man stopped short and his eye widened in surprise. It was a moment before he spoke, but in that time Raven's eyes and height had returned to normal. The shadow hand released X and he fell to the ground.

"I see you've captured our intruder. Well done," the man remarked, finally finding his voice. Just as he motioned for his soldiers to surround X, the boy disappeared from sight.

"Search the tower. If you can't capture him, kill him. I don't want him sneaking around my tower!" Slade ordered. Quickly the small group turned and ran out of the room. When his attention finally returned to his apprentice, he saw her sitting on the floor, bent over and fiercely clutching her head. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and horror at how she had acted. Slade silently walked over to her and stopped next to her. A few moments passed before he said anything.

"You should meditate, Raven." His tone was more condescending than suggestive. Even though she heard him, she couldn't acknowledge him. She was far too busy trying to suppress all the emotions raging inside of her. Anger, revenge, worry, fear... all fighting to break loose. If she stopped to reply, she was sure her powers would destroy something else in the room.

Slade knew how dangerous the dark girl was, especially in her unstable condition. He wasn't about to personally take Raven back to her room, so instead he had the next robot who entered take her. Two more soldiers entered moments later.

"I want all the locks in this tower changed. New passwords, new codes, and nothing left unchanged. And if by some cursed chance a woman with black hair bypasses the security systems and gets in, I want her captured and brought to me immediately," he told them. They nodded and hurried out of the room in their normal zombie-like hunch.

Suddenly, alarms went off in the tower.

"_Now __what?_" Slade shouted, his fingers tensely hooked like sharp talons. He spun around to see a street map of the city flash onto the screen. In the top right hand corner was an inset picture of Killer Moth. Slade meandered over to the screen, inspecting the information carefully. He folded his arms across his chest.

"Who _is_ this baffoon?" he said at last. Then, the doors to the side entrance slid open and a mob of robot guards rushed in. Slade thought it would be interesting to see how Raven would fare against an overgrown insect, but figured it was still too early to trust her completely. Instead he looked to the soldiers and, indicating the screen with a subtle jerk of his head, said, "Take care of that."

Most of the group immediately left, and the rest remained in the room to work on changing tower codes. Slade watched the screen a few more moments before turning and walking out of the room, hands clasped behind his back. He was headed for the training room to make preparations for his practice with Raven.

The dark girl, meanwhile, was in her own room, sitting on her bed, and running through various mental exercises to calm her emotions. She was slowly succeeding. Raven vented a sign, closed her eyes, assumed her meditating pose, and began to drift into the air. She whispered her magical words, relieved to finally be meditating again.

It seemed far too soon when two soldiers barged into her room. Instinctively, Raven flew higher into the air and into a fighting stance, fists shrouded in darkness. Quickly she thought better of it and slowly sank to the floor. They led her down a couple of corridors to the training room. There Slade was waiting in the middle of the fighting mat for her. Suddenly, Raven was acutely aware of her bruises acquired during her last match with the man.

The two robots took up their posts on either side of the doorway and kept their watchful eyes on the dark girl as she slowly stepped onto the mat. She noticed all the other training equipment had been crowded against the far walls, leaving the floor bare except for the blue mat.

"The first round will be sans powers," Slade announced crisply, once she had finally reached him. Raven already felt exhausted when he said "round". Then she realized why all the other equipment was so far away- the man still didn't trust her. Even though she wasn't supposed to use her powers, he figured she would anyway and try to throw something large at him. Raven clenched her fists.

"So what will we use for weapons?" she asked in a forced tone.

"No weapons," replied Slade. He sunk into a martial arts stance, arms out, one hand in front of the other, waiting for an attack. Raven hesitated, then assumed her own stance slowly, almost awkwardly. They stood motionless for a minute or so, waiting for the other to move.

Slave was the first to grow impatient and he bolted for Raven. It appeared he was going to punch her, and that was what the dark girl anticipated, but at the last second he balked, spun his body around, and, with extra momentum, sent her a powerful kick. His boot had caught her right in the crook where her neck and shoulder met and forced her to the floor. Her neck stung terribly as she staggered to her feet. Slade had retreated a couple of steps and waited for the girl to attack. With her face twisted into a hateful glare, Raven leapt forward, arms swinging wildly. When she drew closer, the man put up a block and that's when she jumped over him. Without her powers, her leap wasn't very high. In fact, if she hadn't twisted to the side, she would've never cleared the top of his head.

The moment Raven landed, she dropped to the floor and gave a spinning kick to the back of Slade's legs. He stumbled backward and would've fallen if he didn't do a back spring. He landed on his feet.

The fighting continued, and soon it seemed their attacks became repetitious. Since the girl couldn't use her powers, Slade was clearly stronger and finally won the fight by grabbing Raven's arm and flipping her over so she landed on her back. His opponent was far too exhausted by then to get up. She just laid there, gasping for air while Slade leaned on his knees. Raven couldn't believe that although he was probably ten times older than she was, the man was in better shape. It wasn't fair.

Just as she struggled to sit up, more alarms echoed in the tower, and a red light began flashing in the training room.

"Now what?" moaned Slade, who was too tired to say it any louder.

"That's the intruder alarm," Raven said between breaths. Instantly the man found his strength and bounded for the door. He noticed his apprentice get up and start to follow him and he spun around.

"Stay here!" he ordered quickly, and in his rush and urgency, his tone sounded hard and cruel. The two guards on either side of the door heard Slade, too, and after the man flew out of the room, they both took a step closer together. It was clear Raven was trapped, and this time the girl didn't challenge it. Instead, she sat down and began to meditate.

When Slade reached the main hallway leading to the living room, he found Blackfire between two guards. A few robots and pieces of robots laid scattered near the end of the corridor. The woman had her arms folded across her chest and an expression that was something between bored and annoyed.

"I get the feeling I wasn't expected," she said once she saw Slade.

"No, you were expected," he replied slowly, "just not welcome."

..

Anyone ever watch Jackie Chan Adventures? If you did, there was a couple of episodes where Valmont was turned into a kid, and the way he said "baffoons" was just so funny... it's stuck with me ever since. Really, it was supposed to be this joke for my friends... they liked it. LoL.

**Next ****Update:** Oct. 24th


	12. Temper

**a.n.** **raex18-** Thank you kindly. Glad you like. :) **LM22102-** Pretty soon those numbers are gonna start sticking with me, too. hehe. Yes, I adored little Valmont. So cute. X3;; Thank you for the reply.. and yes, I saw the last TT episode. The first time Titans East came up, I really didn't like them... they all seemed kinda jumbled together and they really didn't work. But this ep, they weren't bad. :) They replay new eps, what, every Friday and Saturday, I think? **Kendra ****Chetnova-** I'm assuming, then, that all your voices liked the last chapter? LoL Hm, never seen the Matrix movies. Well, saw parts of the first one, but never the whole way through. I just know Smith 'cause he also played Elrond. XD; Glad you liked it. **Boldprint56-**Hehe, I try to make X a little funny in the story. Without Beast Boy, there's gotta be some form of humor... And I hope Slade stays evil through the whole thing... but to me it's hard to tell anymore. :/ But maybe that's just me. Thanks for the review. :) **gracefulraven-** Thank you. :D Yes, I'll try to update every Monday. If I don't, don't tar and feather me too soon. LoL. **VampireSelene-** Thank you. And undomesticated equines couldn't make me abandon the story... (hehe, anyone watch Stargate SG-1?). **psycicflower-** Yeah, I usually don't look at story titles, either. LoL. Thank you, and... you'll see in the next chapter how close by the Titans really are. :3 **kidsnextdoor112-** Hey, cool, a new victim- I mean... reviewer. :B LoL. Thank you, and I'm glad you like. Hopefully I can keep your interest until the end of the story... (which won't be anytime in the near future, mind.)

.

note: I sometimes break off chapters in weird places. The last thing was Slade saying Blackfire was expected but not welcome. ...yeah

**Chapter 11 **

At that Blackfire's eyes glowed a bright purple.

"I didn't cross three galaxies to be treated like _this_!" she shouted. At the end of her exclamation, she swing her arms back, hit both the robot guards in the chest, and sent them flying.

"Lower your voice, my dear," hissed Slade, returning the woman's glare.

"Why?" Blackfire snapped, taking a threatening step closer. "Who's here that you don't want me to know about?"

"Not everything is about _you__,_ Blackfire," said the man bitterly. He wondered how much noise she would make if he locked her in some distant room and left her there. But Slade figured that the woman- with her powers- could get out of anything. Then she would search the tower for him, looking for revenge. Slade couldn't have her wandering around the halls where Raven could bump into her.

Suddenly Blackfire's angry expression was replaced by a scandalous one. "Or..." she began slowly, "who's here that you don't want knowing _I__'__m_ here?" The man stared at her for a long moment, and cold silence fell over the hallway.

"First, dear Blackfire, this is now my house, and if I feel you are being unnecessarily loud in _my __house_, I will inform you. Second, you're not even supposed to be here. I cannot change my busy schedule to accommodate _you_, especially at such late notice." At that he turned his back on her and began to walk away. After a few steps he stopped and said over his shoulder, "I don't have the time, the room, nor the patience for you to stay here. Just make sure you keep the Titans on your ship and as far away from here as possible."

"_So __where __am __I __supposed __to __stay?_" shouted the woman, intentionally raising her voice. Slade gave a nonchalant shrug with his wide shoulders.

"Anywhere you want. I hear the Caribbean is nice this time of year... go play princess there." By now more robot soldiers had entered the hall, and two stood on either side of Blackfire. Once Slade had finished speaking, they pushed her around and led her back the way she had come. As the man turned down a different corridor, he paused by another guard.

"Find out how she got in and make sure it won't happen again." The robot nodded and began to walk away when Slade grabbed its arm and pulled it back.

"What about that X? Did you find him?" The soldier shook its head, but this time waited in case there were any more questions. The man had none and headed back for the training room.

Slade found Raven floating above the middle of the mat, chanting her words in a whisper.

"Ready for round two?" he interrupted, walking over to the wall where everything was crowded. The dark girl put her feet on the ground and eyed Slade warily.

"Who was in the tower?" Raven asked softly. She didn't know what would spark a sudden mood swing in Slade, and she didn't want to find out. The girl didn't like being yelled at. Therefore she wanted to be as careful as possible for now.

"Don't mind it. It's been taken care of," the man replied, still scrounging around for something. Presently he returned with two bo staffs. Raven suppressed a groan.

"You know, as your apprentice, I need to be informed of what goes on around here," she said quickly. Slade threw her a staff which she easily caught with one hand. His tone bordered amusement.

"Reasonable. However, no beginner should know everything the teacher knows. Frankly, it's none of your business." Raven's eyes narrowed and she whipped her staff around, sinking into a defensive position.

"You're the one preaching trust, Slade. What's wrong- don't you _trust _me?" The last part came in a challenging hiss. The hint of humor in his voice completely dropped.

"In all truthfulness, Raven, I don't." The dark girl's jaw set in a grimace. For some reason, she felt offended by his reply.

"Do you want to be trusted?" Slade asked with a tilt of his head. Raven hesitated. It was the worst feeling in the world not to be trusted- especially by friends. But this man wasn't her friend. He was still the enemy... wasn't he? He was dangerous and, even worse, had a short temper. But even trust from an enemy was something.

"Yes," she said in a half whisper. Slade's tone sounded amused again.

"Excellent. Your move, my dear." Raven hated it when he appeared smug. Quickly she swung her staff around as darkness seemed to seep right from the weapon. The dark girl hit Slade square across the chest with all her force, sending him hurtling into the far wall. As the man staggered to his feet, he cast the girl a look that was something between annoyed and betrayed.

_"__What __was __that?__"_ he cried. A hardly noticeable smile crept onto Raven's face, pleased with herself that she had beaten the smugness right out of him. After a victorious twirl of her staff, she replied, "You never said no powers for this match."

"No I didn't, did I?" said Slade, almost begrudgingly. If Raven didn't like it when Slade sounded smug, then Slade definitely did not like Raven's attitude. To him it was a direct, insubordinate challenge. The man stalked forward threateningly, and again, Raven looked wary. Slade immediately stopped and vented a sigh, which sounded much more like a hiss.

"That will be all for today," he said. The girl put her staff on the mat and quickly flew out of the room, followed by the two soldiers. Once the doors had closed behind her, the man flung his own staff against the nearest wall, splintering the wood and almost shattering it.

This was taking far longer than Slade would've liked. However, he knew he had to be careful with Raven. She would make a strong ally- the man just had to get her to join willingly. Raven had to think that choosing Slade's side was fully her decision. If she had any doubts about it, she would never live up to her true potential as his apprentice.

Even though Raven was powerful, mentally she was fragile, and if Slade tried to pressure her, he knew she would resist. The man figured that to win her over, he'd need more time than he had.

Slade was surprised when the doors opened and Raven poked her head into the room.

"Uh... what about dinner?" she asked The man tilted his head questioningly.

"You have a kitchen full of food. Find something."

"...Had," she corrected. "Practically nothing's good. Starfire hadn't been to the store in..." Suddenly the dark girl's voice faded.

Slade neared her and replied almost sensitively, "My dear, you shouldn't rely on other people for anything. It's only more of a disappointment when they're gone. You need to learn to take care of yourself."

Raven stepped into the room to get further away from the two robots practically breathing down her neck.

"But... we were like a family. Starfire did the shopping, Beast Boy did the cooking, Cyborg fixed everything, and Robin kept everyone in line like a parent," the girl recalled softly. Even though she was looking downward, Slade could see her eyes were clouded with memories. For the first time Raven looked genuinely calm... if not happy.

"And where do you fit into that 'family', Raven?" he asked, breaking her thoughts. The girl hesitated.

"I don't doubt your friends made a lovely little family. However, I can't see how you would ever have or want a part in that, " said Slade. He laid a hand on one of the girl's slumped shoulders. "My dear, you shouldn't miss what you never had." Raven gave a small, acknowledging nod of her head. She was too tired to protest his statements. She just wanted to eat.

"How about I send someone to pick something up?" the man suggested after a long pause. Raven looked up at him questioningly.

"You're not gonna steal anything, are you?" she asked with one eyebrow arched. Slade leaned over so he was eye level with the girl.

"And how exactly did Starfire get what you needed? None of you Titans had a job," he said matter-of-factly. "You have no money."

"People just gave stuff to us because of what we did to help the city," she replied flatly.

"Hm. Well, as wonderful as that is, my soldiers will be picking up the tab from now on. In fact, I'll send them right away. Why don't you go meditate for now, Raven?" The girl stood there with a suspicious and questioning expression, but at length shrugged off his hand and left the room.

Raven instead went to the living room. She cringed every time she passed a robot guard, and all of them gave quizzical looks as they watched her, wondering if she should be roaming the tower or not. Was the dark girl supposed to get used to this? She was a prisoner in her own home- no matter what Slade said.

The doors slid closed behind her and she was surprised to see she was alone in the room. The two robots that had been following her stopped outside and had stationed themselves on either side of the doors.

Raven walked over to one of the giant windows, pressed a hand against the glass, and dolefully stared out. The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon, setting the water ablaze with different and distinct colors.

"Guys," she whispered, leaning her forehead against the window, "where are you?"

The dark girl remembered one New Years Eve when the team watched the sun set from the top of the tower, then stayed there until midnight. They watched all the fireworks shows that were set off from different parts of the city. From the tower room, they could even see other cities' fireworks displays. Raven also remembered that when it was over with, everyone wanted to stay on the roof and watch the sunrise. Beast Boy, of course, was still vigilantly facing west, waiting for the first morning rays. The dark girl, however, didn't want to, and returned to her room to go to sleep.

Raven sighed and her hand slowly slid down the glass. She would give anything to have had more time with her friends. Why had she been so anti-sociable before? Why hadn't she gone with the guys to look for Starfire? At least then she would know what happened to her friends, for she would be part of it. That would be far better than wondering what happened to them.

Raven completely lost track of time as she became absorbed in her memories. Before she knew it, the sun had completely set, and except for the soft hue warming the horizon, the sky was dark. The girl didn't even notice Slade enter the room along with two of his soldiers. One of the robots was carrying a pizza box. Slade seemed to ignore Raven and went right to the screen. He brought up a map of the city to check on the progress of the fight. The man was pleased to see Killer Moth had been beaten.

"He's got an annoying daughter," a soft voice spoke up behind him. Slade turned to see the Titan staring at him, still leaning on the large window.

"You've fought him before?"

"Once. You should've let me fight this time," chided the girl. She didn't know why, but she felt she had to prove herself to the man. Raven felt he didn't consider her dangerous at all- and she didn't like that.

"He came up right when we were going to start our training," Slade replied quickly.

"This is still _my_ town!" protested the dark girl.

"You're not ready to fight on your own. You would be quickly defeated. You're used to fighting on a team, my dear, with four other members. No doubt you had routines worked out and everything. But now, before you can be sent out on your own, you'll need training so you can learn how to take care of yourself."

"Don't underestimate me, Slade," Raven replied threateningly.

"Believe me, I don't. I think you worked very well on a team, but now that you have to fight on your own, you seem to have lost some of your expertise. It's like having to learn to fight all over again," he said with a shrug. The dark girl felt like showing Slade right there how well she could fight. Using all of her powers and taking him off guard, Raven figured she could quickly beat him.

"So forget everything the Titans taught you," the man continued, staring out the window into nothingness. "All you need to know is what I teach you."

The hand that wasn't pressed against the glass was clenched into a fist. Was he saying that everything she learned from her friends was meaningless? That's all he ever did- ever since he started talking to her- he tried to discredit her friends. Slade tried to make them seem mean, hurtful, and inept. And even though Raven wasn't as close to them as they were to each other, she felt a fierce loyalty to them.

Her mouth stayed shut, her teeth gritted, as her temper flared. The dark girl knew she wouldn't be able to win with words. Instead, the large window she was touching grew black and shattered. There was a piercing echo in the room and all the shards fell down to the rocky ground below. Even though the man tried to hide it, Raven knew he had been startled.

"Control your temper!" he exclaimed with a glare, though that was all he could find to say.

"I did," hissed the dark girl through clenched teeth. With a final glare to match his, Raven turned and headed for the doors. As she passed the robot soldiers, she grabbed the pizza box and guarded it like her life depended on it.

Not wanting to have to deal with the two guards outside who were constantly on her tail, when Raven reached the doors, a giant shadow figure engulfed her and phased right through the door. It flew past the robots and, just to be sure to lose them, sunk through the floor halfway down the corridor.

It resurfaced in Raven's room, then vaporized, leaving only the girl holding the box. She sat on her bed and flipped the top off the pizza box. As she ate her first slice, the dark girl carefully looked around her room, considering it. It barely felt like a sanctuary anymore. She certainly didn't fell like her home was safe now- not like it was when her friends lived there.

Raven stayed in her room the rest of the day and devoured the pizza, her thoughts on her friends the whole time. She went to bed after a particularly long meditation.

Her night was peaceful, although it didn't seem very long before she was forcefully shaken awake by a robot soldier. It was still early; the sun had just barely crept up from behind the horizon. Raven sighed as she sat up and looked out her window. How many days had it been since she last saw her friends? It felt like an eternity already. Reluctantly, the dark girl stumbled out of bed and went to take care of some morning chores.

By the time she arrived in the living room, a towel twisted around her wet hair, she found Slade already there. He was idly checking out what was in the cabinets and didn't notice the girl until she was within an arms length of him.

"You eat?" Raven asked, almost incredulously, as she grabbed a pitcher to begin making her herbal tea.

Slade saw her wet towel and replied in the same tone, "You bathe?" The dark girl glared at him, but said nothing. However, a minute later when she was fishing a tea bag from its box, her hair towel, covered in darkness, floated gently from her head and came to a halt above Slade's. Immediately it pulled taut and wrung itself out, the little bit of water it had dripped onto the man. Just as he started to look up, one end of the towel pulled itself back and snapped forward, slapping Slade in the face. After that it zoomed up and disappeared into the ceiling.

Raven was calmly dipping the tea bag in and out of the hot water, a content expression on her face.

"That wasn't funny," the man growled, wiping the water off his mask.

"What wasn't?" asked Raven, looking up for once. Slade had half the mind to throw the tea pitcher across the room, but he knew if he kept telling her to restrain her temper, he couldn't run away with his. Instead, he vented a sigh as he slowly counted to ten. His fists were firmly on the counter to prevent them from destroying something.

After a few moments' pause, Raven suddenly spoke up.

"Where are my friends?" Slowly Slade lifted his head.

"My dear, please grasp the concept that they are not coming back."

"I know," she replied slowly, now stirring her tea with a long handled spoon. They had been gone so long; the girl had never been separated from them for a longer time. When she had woken up to another Titan-less Tower, she had finally given up hope. "I just want to know." Her voice was soft, as if she was ashamed of herself to admit it. "You know... closure. You said you got rid of them." The man straightened.

"Well," he replied somberly, "it was my doing that Starfire was lured away. When the boys went to save her- which they did- they then had a choice: stay where they were or return home. ...I guess they stayed."

..

Hm, reading over it again, Slade's ending explanation seems kinda... lame. :/ It'll be better explained later, for those who agree with me. LoL.

And for some reason I like the part where BB's "vigilantly facing west." X3;

**Next ****Update:** January... j/k October 31st. Ooh. Halloween. Somehow fitting. :)


	13. Slade's Ultimatum or X's Message

**a.n.****kidsnextdoor112-** LoL, earlier today I was wondering what people might say if I waited until like Thursday to update instead of Monday... but I try to stick to my schedule. :) Glad you like. And I'll try my best to make the 31st. No little trick-or-treaters can stop me! **raven717-** Well, she can teleport out of the tower... and taking Slade off guard with her powers would be really easy for her... but why? I mean, she still thinks her friends are galaxies away and not coming back (you find out where the Titans really are in this chapter), and Slade's got this army of robots that would defeat her before she defeats them, so she can't rid the tower of them. Really, what else is there for her to do? (Yes, pity Raven! LoL) And chapters... over 20. Yeah. And thanks for the review. :) **gracefulraven-** Thank you. :3 Actually, I'm just making everything up as I go along, so I have no clue how Slade and Raven will turn out. LoL. I did check out your story and I liiike it. :) **Zelda/Boldprint56-** Thanks for the review. ...what's the other reason you're excited about Halloween? LoL j/k. I've gone trick-or-treating only once in my life. I'm serious... I'm not a Halloween person. I just watch tv all night. XD; I checked out "Chicken Pox"... like I said in the review, cute. :3 However, I was expecting BB to be a chicken somewhere in there... LoL. **LM22102-** You're late! j/k Thankee for the review... I just hope the story turns out the way you're expecting. hehe. **faLLen-dreamz-** Yep, poor Raven. And even more so at the end of this chapter. I strive for cliffhangers! :D **VampireSelene-** Thank you... and yeah, a vote of confidence for the last ending! :3 And... one question: Why would Raven escape to look for the rest of the Titans when she thinks they're still galaxies away? Needless to say, she doesn't go out looking for them. **Kendra ****Chetnova-**o.O;; Wow. I'd say with 81 "update"s, you liked the last chapter. LoL. Ok, here's the next one (not as slow as the last one, IMO): **psycicflower-** "lolical"? Hehe, I like that word. X3; Midterms... fun. I'm finishing those up, too. x.x; Thank you for the review, and happy birthday. :) Hope you like this installment.

**Chapter 12**

The tea cup Raven had just taken out of a cupboard was swallowed by darkness and shattered. Other than that, it was impossible to decipher her feelings. The dark girl was expecting an answer like that, but when she heard it actually spoken, she couldn't help her reaction. Slowly, she picked another cup.

"Believe me, Raven, you're better off without them. You have great potential... and now that you have nothing to hinder you, you shall quickly aspire to greatness," Slade said carefully. He didn't want to set off her temper or drive her to attack him with something worse than a wet towel.

The dark girl just poured her herbal tea. She had nothing to say to Slade or anybody else, but she didn't want to be left alone to her thoughts. Raven knew she couldn't entirely trust the man, but on some level, she accepted his answer about her friends.

She took a sip of her tea and tried not to think about things too much. Finally Slade broke the long, tense silence.

"I have to go somewhere this morning. I'll be back in a couple of hours or so and we'll have another little practice session then." Raven gave an indifferent shrug but glared at the man's back as he walked away.

A little while later the dark girl began meditating in front of the empty window pane in the living room; the robot soldiers still hadn't replaced the large plate of glass Raven had broken. She didn't even notice when Slade slipped out, alone and suspiciously.

But he wasn't completely unnoticed. Someone did spot him and proceeded to follow him.

Slade frequently looked over his shoulder as he walked. He traveled to the grassy shore opposite Titans Tower, then to the farthest hill closest to a grove of towering trees. There, behind the hill, was Blackfire's ship.

Blackfire herself was lying on the grass next to her ship, basking in the early sunlight. As Slade approached, he made sure he blocked the sun as best he could. Only when Blackfire realized a shadow had fallen on her for awhile did she open her eyes.

"Cyclops, this is a surprise. What brings you to my neighborhood?" she asked in an almost pleasant manner.

"Are you aware of the fact that you can see this hiding place from _my__tower?__"_ Slade hissed fiercely.

"The hiding place, but not the ship," corrected the woman, lazily raising a hand and giving a dismissive wave. "If that's all you've come to say..." Slade didn't budge.

"I want to see the Titans."

"They're still there. Believe me."

"I want to see them," Slade repeated, stressing every word. Blackfire gave an annoyed sigh, then slowly, delicately got to her feet.

"Fine, if you're going to be like _that_ about it," she replied snobbishly, tossing her hair.

Blackfire led him into the rear of the ship, the cargo area. It was cluttered with a few crates, most of which were packed with food, the rest probably clothing. She stopped in the middle of the room and stepped on a smaller floor plate. In front of them, a large section of floor slowly began to rise, smoke hissing out of the gaps. When it stopped, it was level with the top of Slade's head. The plate was on top of four large, cylindrical tanks, each holding a Titan. The Titans were encases in an odd-colored substance, something between a liquid and a solid, however the team looked completely frozen.

"How long will they stay like that?" Slade asked finally, after carefully inspecting each one.

"Forever, if nobody brings them out of it," replied Blackfire with a nonchalant shrug.

"Can you destroy them without waking the inhabitants, or giving them a chance to escape? The Titans have a pesky knack of finding ways to get out of seemingly impossible situations," the man said with a hint of bitter remembrance.

"It's possible. But I won't do it."

"Why not?" Slade barked, spinning around to face her, a look to kill in his eye.

"Well, you see, I've grown fond of having my sister so close. And her little friends keep her company," explained Blackfire, twirling a lock of dark hair. Slade's eye narrowed.

"You must be kidding," he said flatly.

"There's the funny one," she went on, pointing at Beast Boy, "the strong one," pointing to Cyborg, "my sister the deliriously happy one, and the cute one." After acknowledging Robin, Blackfire turned back to Slade. "All I need is the grumpy one and I'll have the whole set."

"You come near her or Titans Tower and I'll have you shot on sight," the man threatened immediately.

"What a gentleman."

"Look, the deal was you get those four out of the way and I get Raven. And when we made that agreement, I expected you to stay a couple of galaxies away!" Slade shouted, first pointing a finger in Blackfire's face, then making wild, angry gestures.

"Plans change, calm down," replied Blackfire in a strong tone. "Keep your kid from finding me and everything will be fine. See? Problem solved." Slade thought now more than ever the woman truly was stupid for not grasping the seriousness of the situation.

"Plans change because someone screws them up," he replied sharply. "This time, it's you. So I am _not_ going to go out of my way to cover up for your mistakes. So either you take your ship and your little Titan collection and leave, or I will _make_ you leave. And I will make sure you land in the most desolate, unbearable place possible, with no way to escape." As he talked, he crept closer to Blackfire. Now he was looming threateningly over her, though she showed no signs of intimidation.

"Listen, Cyclops," the woman said, speaking in a tone of one striking a deal, "I wanna stay and watch you train that little Titan like a show dog, and if you do it well enough, she'd never wander away from the tower and stumble across my ship." Blackfire pressed her fingertips against the man's chest and pushed him away from herself.

"You _do_ know that just about _any_ computer in the tower can detect and locate the Titan's communicators, don't you? You _do_ realize that _all_ the Titans have their communicators with them, don't you?" Slade snapped. When he saw Blackfire thinking about how to overcome this obstacle, he added, "And even if you _can_ think of a way to de-thaw them all without waking them up so you can take the communicators, I should inform you: Cyborg's is built right into his machinery. The only way to take it out would be to destroy him. And you've already stated how you do so adore your wonderful collection."

Blackfire folded her arms across her chest and glared at Slade. She detected the unmistakable tone of gloating in his voice and it only made her angry.

"And just _where_ do you suggest I go?" she asked, slowly and deliberately.

"Antarctica's the first thing that comes to mind, but if that doesn't suit you, how about any major city on any other continent of your choice? I know it's too much to ask you leave this planet entirely, but my only suggestion is you keep a low profile for awhile. Stay out of the news at least until Raven's completely under my control," Slade said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"That should take awhile, since you give her free reign. You really ought to discipline her more. You know, show her who's boss," announced Blackfire, clenching a fist and wagging it in Slade's masked face. He pushed her hand away. Next to his, her hand looked like a child's.

"Don't talk about what you don't know," Slade said gravely. He was trying his best to kill Blackfire with his death glare, but, to his disappointment, it hadn't worked yet. The woman gave a fake, lighthearted laugh.

"Of _course_ I know what I'm talking about. I saw it all on the Titans' security camera! All I had to do was hack into the mainframe, get past a new password or two, and download the footage to my ship." When Slade didn't seem to have a comeback, the woman continued.

"You know, she's at that age where she's testing her limits- like all kids do- and you just gotta put your foot down!" -she added a stomp onto the steel plated floor- "And like I said, show her who's boss. Already she's walking all over you." Blackfire grinned. Although Slade felt like strangling the woman, he kept a calm tone.

"I am not about to accept advice, if you could even call it that, from _you_. You talk about her like she's a child, yet she's just about your age. She certainly is more powerful than you. So far, all these speeches you've given me were just wasted breath. I know you don't take my endeavor seriously; you're just poking fun at it. And it's grown old. So, my final warning: if you are not gone within the hour, I will send my army of robots to... _help_ you," he said in a sinister tone. Scowling, Blackfire stepped on another floor plate and, with many hissing sounds, the four tanks containing the frozen Titans slowly lowered beneath the floor. When the plate on the top of the tanks was once more level with the metal ground, Slade turned and left.

As he stepped out of the back of the ship, the man thought he heard something at the forest edge, which was quite close, but saw nothing. He did not linger to investigate, however, figuring he had spent enough time away from the tower. He just hoped Raven hadn't tried to escape again or anything else foolish like that.

To Slade's satisfaction, the girl was right where she had been before he left.

"How was your stroll?" Raven asked as he walked into the room. He stopped and leaned against the counter in the kitchen area, determined not to lose his cool. Slade noticed the girl still facing the wall of windows, right in front of the missing pane. A breeze was blowing in, carrying the smell of the sea, and lightly whipping Raven's cape around.

"You were watching me?" he asked back. The girl's hands slowly dropped onto her knees and she spun around in mid air to face him.

"You sound defensive for just having a morning outing. Or maybe that's just you. But there's nothing to worry about. I opened my eyes once and saw you walking along the bank way over there." Slade couldn't stop his eye from widening.

"What else did you see?" he demanded instantly, not taking time to plan out his interrogation. The man then figured he should've once he noticed Raven's brow furrowed in a suspicious look.

"Nothing. I don't know what it is I shouldn't have seen, so I guess your secret outing is safe."

Slade breathed out an amused snort. "Yes, my stroll was fine," he said at last with a tilt of his head. Raven's eyes narrowed, observing him, but finally didn't object to the change in subject. Instead, she steered it in a new direction.

"It must be nice, walking around outside in the morning. I sometimes did that. It was... enjoyable." The dark girl heard a snicker vent from Slade's mask. He obviously had caught on that she was hinting at her house arrest. However, he didn't fall into the pending argument over his rules.

The man just said instead, "Isn't it, though?" Raven scowled that he had avoided her trap. She turned back to the windowless pane.

"I'm hungry. What's gonna be for lunch?"

"You just had breakfast," Slade replied. "But lunch won't be until after practice. Go get ready." Raven's eyes flashed open, glowing white, while her clenched fists were covered in shadow. An instant later, her whole body was engulfed in a giant, black bird, which flew up and dived right through the floor. The moment she was gone, Slade turned to one of the robots in the room.

"At the end of the hour, go pay a visit to Blackfire's ship. If it's still there, send it to the middle of Antarctica. Do not attempt to destroy it, however. Those tanks could survive the explosion. And someone fix that window." He rattled off the orders extremely fast, and if the listener hadn't have been robotic, it wouldn't have caught all Slade had said. The guard merely nodded and continued its work of fiddling with the computer.

Raven lingered as long as she could in her room. She had discarded her cape; against Slade, it was only a hindrance. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail so it would stay out of her face. The dark girl had earned a couple of bruises the last practice because her hair kept veiling her eyes. Raven brushed her bangs aside. They were too short to reach the hair band, but as long as they didn't interfere, she didn't mind.

Just as she changed her shoes on her bed, she heard a soft tapping on her door. Her eyebrows were folded in annoyed curiosity. Why would robots- or even Slade himself- be knocking on her door? And why so lightly? Suddenly the door opened and X flew in, breathing heavily. His panting sounded almost grotesque as it passed through his mask.

"You again?" Raven demanded, standing up.

"Nice to see you too, kid," he replied as he leaned on his knees. "It's getting harder to evade detection around here."

"What are you doing here?" asked the girl, stalking over to X, her fists shrouded in darkness. X stood up and took a step backward, his hands up in a slightly defensive fashion.

"Just here to deliver a message-"

"From?" she cut in, her tone threatening.

"Well, me..." said X slowly, "but then it just sounds stupid. I was trying to make it look cool, y'know-"

"The _message_?" demanded Raven. The boy jumped at the sharpness of her tone.

"Just that you really should be back out by that window at the beginning of the next hour. You might be interested-" The dark girl grabbed the front of X's suit, swung him around, and slammed him into the door.

"STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC!" she shouted into his ear. A few moments later, X was still shuddering, but after that he quickly recovered.

"And I'm sure that any second now, guards will be swarming in here to see what all the noise is about," he said in an annoyed tone. Even as he spoke, Raven could hear numerous footsteps trampling around the end of the corridor.

"Well, why can't you just talk normally?" growled Raven, quickly and sharply. The footsteps were growing louder.

"Hey, you're the Titan. You need to figure stuff out- I shouldn't have to tell you everythi-" Tired of his lame excuses, the dark girl had hoisted X higher against the door, with the help of her powers. The noise of the nearing guards stopped right outside the room.

"You're not really gonna hand me over, are you?" X asked quickly, almost nervously. A robot soldier pounded on the door.

"Or are you really on Slade's side?" the young man added. With a scowl Raven covered X in shadow and shoved him through the floor. Just then the door opened to reveal the hallway crowded with guards.

"Training practice already?" the dark girl spoke up with an indiscernible expression. The soldier in front took a quick scan of her room, found nothing out of place, and let Raven pass.

On the way to the practice room, her thoughts dwelled on X's message. Why was he trying to help her, anyway? When the team first met him, he was somewhat of an enemy. Now he sounded as if he didn't want her to join Slade. In Raven's opinion, now that her friends were gone, there were no sides anymore. However, even though his cryptic style annoyed her, his message intrigued her.

A minute later the dark girl trudged into the training room.

"What took you?" demanded Slade, his tone dangerous.

"Nothing. You're just impatient," Raven replied coolly. The man was standing in the middle of the floor, his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm busy. I have a right to be impatient."

"Busy?" Raven repeated, almost in a mocking sort of voice. "Busy doing what, staying around the tower all day?" She heard him sneer.

"You have no idea what I do, my dear. Now let's not waste any more time," replied Slade, sinking into a fighting stance. "And no powers," he added when he noticed the slightest flicker of shadow around her fists.

"How do you think I'll develop my powers if I can't use them?" the girl snapped.

"Temper," retorted Slade. "You would do well to watch your tone around me." Raven's eyes narrowed. First he acted defensive and evasive, now he was talking to her like she was a child, and on top of it all, X said she should be watching out the window in about half an hour. The dark girl was tired of being bossed around.

"_Don__'__t_," she hissed, "talk to me like... like a..."

"Father?" finished Slade. He knew what Raven's relationship with her real father- if he could even be called that- was like.

"I don't have a father," the girl muttered. A mockingly sympathetic noise issued from the vents in Slade's mask.

"No father _and_ no friends? My dear, how can you stand it? What keeps you from utter depression... or worse?" His tone was quite serious, but Raven still thought there was a hint of mocking in his voice.

She lunched forward, trying to punch Slade, shouting, "You _don__'__t_ have to make fun of me!"

"Believe me, Raven, I wasn't," he replied, knocking her fist out of the way before it reached his face. "But, to answer your first question, this will greatly help with your powers. You need to be a skilled fighter without your powers, because what would happen if you were to lose them? As you physically grow stronger, quicker, tougher, then your powers will serve to amplify your new, hard-earned skills."

Raven jumped for his head, foot first, but Slade sidestepped her attack, grabbed her ankle, swung her around, and let her soar back the way she had come. Without her powers to slow her down, the dark girl landed hard on the mat.

"For as formidable as Robin was," the man said as Raven stumbled to her feet, "he must've kept all his training secrets to himself. How selfish of him."

"We all had our own different training to do," the dark girl spoke up quickly, between breaths.

"Come now, there's no need to defend him. What's done is done. You're just going to have a different training now."

Their fighting continued for awhile and, although Raven still couldn't beat the man without her powers, she thought she was doing better compared to yesterday. Slade seemed to think so, too.

"You learn quickly," he said as she picked herself up from the floor again. She had tried to attack, but the man had thrown her back to where she was before. "That's a good quality to have. You're actually doing better than I thought." Raven stood slightly hunched, clutching her side; it hurt too much to stand up straight.

"So what happens when I'm strong enough to defeat you on my own?" she asked, not budging from her spot to either attack or defend herself. The dark girl figured if she didn't move, neither would Slade. For the moment, at least.

"What do you mean 'what happens'?" he asked back, tilting his head in consideration.

"Will you let me go? Because I could easily hurt you whenever you would do something I didn't like. Or... would _I_ be in charge?"

"By the time you're as strong as I am, you will have a much different attitude and outlook on things. For instance, you won't be thinking so much about yourself then." Raven arched an eyebrow, still breathing hard.

"Oh really? And who exactly will I be thinking of?"

"Not who- what. Your focus will be on your duties, mainly," Slade replied. "And you will be much more disciplined." Just then the dark girl glanced at the only clock in the room. It was five till eleven. She should be back in the living room if she was going to find out what X was talking about.

"I'm tired," Raven announced in more of a desperate tone than exhausted.

"Well, we're not going to be stopping training just for that. You'll build endurance this way," retorted Slade, jumping for her. It took all her mental strength to keep herself standing there, because her whole body was screaming for protection.

The man kicked her down and it was a few moments before Raven started to move again. Her body was either stinging or pounding and the dark girl was surprised she wasn't bleeding. However, she was sure she was bruised all over.

Slowly she lifted herself into a sitting position, looking helpless.

"Fine," Slade said, venting a sigh, "you can have a break. But not for very long." Without waiting for him to change his mind, Raven was shrouded in shadow and jumped up through the ceiling.

Soon she arrived in the living room, where she was surprised to find no soldiers. The dark girl stood at the windows and looked out over the water and then the land. Raven pressed her forehead against the glass; the missing window had finally been replaced.

A couple of minutes later, just as the girl was losing interest, something caught her eye. A black and crimson ship shot into the air from near the forest and headed east.

Raven raced to the computer screen at the head of the room to track it. When she locked onto it, she also received a familiar signal- the rest of the Titans' communicators.

..

You guys are probably gonna hate me for that cliff-hanger. X3;

**Next ****Update-** When I feel like it... i.e. Nov. 7th. :)

Has anyone seen "I Dream of Jeannie"? (I adored that show when I caught the reruns.) For some reason, Blackfire reminds me of the evil genie cousin/sister whatever she is. The brunette one. But maybe that's just me... hehe


	14. Finally Won Over

**a.n.** For all you Slade/Raven-ers out there, you might like this chapter. :3

Dang, after that FF mess up a couple of days ago, it deleted all the hits to my story. x.x;

**ShadowDevil-** Hey, long time no see. :) Well, Raven's not going to suddenly wake up one morning and be spawn-of-satan evil. It's a slow process. LoL. **kidsnextdoor112-** Thank you very much. Glad you liked. **Kendra Chetnova-** Eeee! They're in character?. :D It's so hard for me to tell anymore, seriously. -ego is so boosted now- XD;; Slade/Raven or Raven/RX... eh, I'm as confused as you are. hehe. I'll find out when I finish the story... then I'll letcha know. ;) **Aietradaea-** Wow, 12 chapters all at once. o.O; I probably would've lost interest in something long before then. LoL. "The dark girl" is repetative? I suppose so... I just wanted to call her something besides her name all the time. And just "the girl" might've gotten confusing with Starfire around (in like... half of the first chapter XD; ). But I can try to cut down on it. However, when Jinx shows up (yes, next chapter), I gotta differentiate somehow. But glad you liked. :) **lolopixie-** Thank you very much. :3 Not really a cliffhanger this time... but I shall try to write another one soon. X3; Ooh, and what really annoys me is the misusing of "there," "their," and "they're." I do it occasionally, though, but sometimes I catch them. There's not too many grammar problems in here, are there? **psycicflower-** I like X, too. He's fun to write. But I like writing Gizmo even more. X3; (Next chapter.) X, although he seems slightly clueless here, is in this chapter, too. My Halloween was spent driving through the Cleveland Metropark woods at night. I kept watching out for psychos or vermin... LoL. How was yours? And how was your b-day? **VampireSelene-** I was wondering when you'd reply. :) I am very, very glad you like it and I hope you'll like this chapter just as much. **Boldprint56-** I'm ecstatic you all like the story so much! :33

**Chapter 13**

Raven jumped back, the scream she had tried to suppress came out as a loud gasp. It couldn't be possible.

Slowly determination took hold of her features and she sunk through the floor on her hunt for Slade. After searching several corridors and rooms, she found him not far from the training room, rattling off more orders to a small group of soldiers. With a wave of Raven's arm, shadow engulfed the man and his body followed the dark girl as she returned to the living room through several stories.

Once Slade had been released on the floor near the screen, he instantly shouted, _"What is the meaning of this?"_

_"What is the meaning of that?"_ Raven shouted back, pointing fiercely at the screen with a picture of the fleeing ship, four Titan signals aboard. "I want answers, Slade!" The man clasped his hands behind his back and a sound like a sorrowful sigh issued from his mask.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Raven," he said slowly, in a calmer tone.

"That's _not_ the kind of answer I want!" exclaimed the girl, darkness covering her fists. "_You _know something! TELL ME!"

"Calm down," Slade replied in a bored voice, looking from the screen to Raven and back again. "They returned earlier in a Tamaranian ship. Blackfire was with them. They saw all my guards here with me and figured you joined me to be their enemy." Raven's eyes widened. All her anger had drained away, replaced by horror.

"That can't be true. You said they weren't coming back!" she said, raising her voice.

"I assumed they wouldn't since they hadn't returned yet. The only conjecture I can give is that Starfire wanted to save her sister from sentencing. However, when they returned they found my robots walking freely all over the tower. I noticed them scouting the tower out earlier. No doubt they saw us together and figured you joined me, their enemy, which makes you their enemy, too. Therefore, they left. There was no way they could retake their home. But like I said, it's just my guess."

Raven felt like she was on the verge of tears. It was a strange sensation, since she almost never cried. The dark girl had probably cried once in the last three years.

"But when Robin... and Terra... we saved them... we never gave up on them," Raven gasped, fighting back tears. The girl's speech was slow and broken because it was hard for her to make sentences while she was searching frantically for any logical reasons the Titans had for leaving her.

"My dear, think about it: Robin was the team's leader- he was friends with everybody. Of course they'd go after him. Terra was outgoing and a friend magnet. Not to mention Beast Boy was interested in her. You, however... your motives are far less easily discerned. I wouldn't doubt it if the other Titans were just waiting- expecting you to switch sides. They probably figured it was a lost cause, trying to save you."

Raven's hand clapped over her mouth to keep her lower lip from quivering. Her eyes stung as she fought back more tears. She felt betrayed, unloved, forgotten. Her friends had been here, in full view of the tower, and they just left. They left _her_.

A harsh sound buzzed from the screen, informing her that the ship was now out of range. The lock on the Titans' communicators was gone; the screen went blank.

They didn't even try- didn't even care. That whole time they had been nice to her, inviting her along with them, playing games, movie marathons... they had really been expecting her to become their enemy? And now that Slade was in their tower, did they think their expectations had come true? That she betrayed them? No- Terra betrayed them. But _they_ betrayed Raven. Maybe Slade had been right all along. She had no real friends. But the Titans had been the closest things to friends the dark girl had ever had. And they just... left.

Raven couldn't contain it any longer. Tears began flowing freely down her face as she sobbed into her hand. Slade, who had never expected to see the girl react this much, was taken a little off guard. However, he was sure that in a few moments her powers would get out of control and the whole room, if not the whole tower, would get wrecked.

Slowly he neared her, trying in vain to think of something that would comfort her. He was urged on only by the fear that she was deadly when so emotionally unstable. Slade awkwardly patted her shoulder, trying to sound soothing.

"Calm down, Raven. I'm sure it's for the best this way." That only made her sob harder. Already large objects where being covered in shadow. Pretty soon they'd be flying around the room.

Slade had no better idea than to pull Raven into a tight hug, clutching her as if he was trying to keep a bomb from detonating.

"Get a _grip_," he told her firmly. The dark girl didn't hear him for she was crying so hard into his chest; she was too short to reach his shoulder.

She had only one thought, but it was resonating so much in her head that it could keep her crying for the rest of the day: The Titans, the only people who had really looked after her and seemed to care for her, were gone, possibly forever. They had just left her.

More objects in the room were engulfed in shadow. Smaller objects were already shaking.

"If you let this upset you, then you're letting the Titans control you- control your powers," Slade said quickly. His embrace wasn't very comforting, in fact it was a little uncomfortable with all his armor, but it gave her something stable to hold onto and she stopped crying so loudly.

However, little items around the room were already in the air, larger objects were slowly levitating, and darkness was spreading across all the windows.

"Raven, listen to me: Forget about the Titans. You don't need friends; they just hurt you. If you calm down, you can meditate, and you'll feel better," Slade said, eyeing all the dark, floating masses in the room uneasily.

"I won't feel better," cried Raven, sniffling. "I'll feel lonely. I always feel lonely." She rubbed her nose on her sleeve near her shoulder then buried her face in the part of Slade's shirt that wasn't covered in armor.

The small object began whizzing around the room, as if caught in a tornado with Raven at its center. The big things slowly followed, but were knocked into repeatedly by the little items on a much faster path. The shadows were putting pressure on the windows and Slade could've sworn he heard a cracking noise from the wall of glass behind him.

"If you don't have friends, it doesn't mean you'll be lonely," the man reasoned, trying to comfort her by patting her head. "Life is much better when you're on your own. You can-"

"But who will I talk to? Play games with? Watch hours and hours of stupid movies with?" whined the girl in a muffled voice.

"The robots?" Slade suggested hopefully. More sobs came from Raven. For once, the man didn't know what to say. He used to pride himself on being able to talk his way in or out of practically anything. Now, however, he was clueless. He was also becoming soaked by the girl's tears.

Impatiently, Slade grabbed Raven's shoulders and pushed her to arms length. All the floating things sped up, and the newly replaced window shattered. Cracks were spreading along other windows, as well.

"Earlier you seemed just fine with the idea your teammates weren't coming back. Now you're a wreck and about to destroy this room. Why did you change?" he asked quickly. Raven sniffled again, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

"I dunno," she mumbled, gasping for air in short, repeated breaths. "I guess it didn't... didn't seem all that real before when you told me... But now, they were here... I saw them. I saw them _leave_!" More short gasps for air. Slade reached out and grabbed a napkin that was sailing by and handed it to Raven.

"You said you wanted closure. Now you know for sure. But now you have to move on. Let it go. Nothing has changed since yesterday. You're still here and your friends are still gone. _Calm down_," he said firmly. The man couldn't see how Raven could carry on like this. It seemed very illogical and too emotional for her.

The dark girl used the napkin first to dry her eyes, then blow her nose. Slowly, the tornado of flying furniture calmed. The shadows receded from the windows. The largest items crashed down first and the smaller stuff gently glided down like feathers. One of Beast Boy's socks landed on Slade's head, which he quickly removed.

"You're right," Raven said at last, her voice sounding strange with her nose clogged. She used the napkin to blow her nose again, then looked around the wrecked room with miserable, puffy eyes.

A pang of guilt shot through the girl as she surveyed the damages. She had lost control of her emotions and her powers. Raven let her hair out of its ponytail and just stood there, sniffling, watching the ground.

"No more training today, Raven. Go rest or meditate or... whatever you need to do," Slade said almost nicely, laying a hand on her shoulder. The girl nodded in a distracted sort of way, but kept staring at the floor. After a moment of silence when Raven still didn't move, the man grabbed her shoulders, spun her around, and pushed her toward the door.

"I want you to get a better control over your powers, Raven," Slade said abruptly, startling the girl out of her miserable thoughts. Suddenly darkness spread over the floor around Raven's feet and she simply dropped through to the lower story.

Just as she left, a robot guard entered through the front doors. Earlier Slade had positioned most of his soldiers around entrances, or anything that could be used as an entrance, while the rest of them went to see Blackfire off.

"Did she leave by herself?" Slade asked it, pulling the front of his shirt away from his skin. The wet material clung to his chest and made a funny suction noise as it finally separated. He looked up just in time to catch the tail end of the robot's nod. "Do you know where she's going?" The guard shook its head.

Slade thought for a moment. "Fine. I want all the codes to the tower changed again and this time make them harder to hack into. And from now on, don't tail Raven. She can walk freely around."

He dismissed the soldier and headed for the computer, wading across the debris-strewn floor. Slade quickly contacted Blackfire's ship and the woman appeared on the screen soon after. She was in the pilot's chair, one leg crossed over the other and reading a magazine. The way she was holding it, it appeared as if she had just done her nails.

"Not for your sake, but your cargo's: I hope you're on auto pilot," Slade said briskly, folding his hands behind his back.

Blackfire lowered the magazine slightly below her eyes. "Calling to check on me so soon? I never knew you cared." The man merely sneered in reply.

"Where are you headed?" he demanded quickly.

"What's it to you?"

"Considering we are still business partners, your intentions are most relevant to me. Now, where are you going?"

Blackfire scowled. "Well, Nosy, Monaco. I just had to see a real, adult earthling kind of party."

"Europe. Well, at least we're separated by an ocean now. However, since Monaco is the gambling center of the world, how do you expect to pay for anything?"

"I've got a plan," the woman replied with a grin that made her nose crinkle. With a careful wave of her hand to make sure her wet nails touched nothing, she terminated the link.

Slade vented a growl as he turned away from the screen. "She better not get herself on international news..."

.

Raven appeared in her room and immediately dropped onto her bed, clutching a pillow. How could she let her emotions get so out of hand? The dark girl had thought she had a tight hold on everything- her temper and powers. But seeing her friends leave... A wave of powerful feelings had come over her then, too much to control. Raven had never cried so hard before. But then again, she had never had friends like the Titans before.

The dark girl felt like crying again, but knew it was pointless. Her tears would not bring her friends back. They would only serve to weaken her mental hold over her powers. Slowly, she forced away her grief and miserableness. The stuffy nose, however, Raven had to deal with.

She was startled when she heard her window being opened, and her head jerked around to see X jump in.

"It's not even safe to stay here twenty minutes anymore," he said, looking carefully back out the window to make sure he wasn't noticed. Raven's eyes narrowed upon seeing him. The thief was the one who told her to watch from the window so she could see something "interesting." It must've been X's idea of a joke to show her her friends leaving. For that, Raven despised him.

"I couldn't stick around for it, but did you see that thing back at that time?" he asked cryptically, sounding pleased with himself. The dark girl had to fight to keep her powers under control; she would've liked nothing better than to smash the thief between a bookcase and a wall.

"Yes," she forced out.

"I figured. I saw stuff flying all over that room from where I was. But anyway, so now you know. What I wouldn't've given to be there to watch it," said X with a chuckle. Raven clenched her fists. He wanted to see her lose control of her powers? And he _knew_ about the Titans all along?

"You probably knew the moment they came back with Blackfire," she hissed, taking a threatening step forward. The thief nodded, his arms folded smugly across his chest.

"Yep. But I knew I shouldn't interfere too much. I saw 'em, actually, yesterday. When Slade was out. And I heard everything-"

"Well _I_ don't want to hear any more!" Raven snapped. After all that she had been through, wondering every day where her friends were, and all X put her through, always seeming to know one more vital piece of information than Raven did, that thief had the nerve to show up and boast like this?

"But I saw it all," said X quickly, taken aback at her outburst. "I was hiding in the woods next to Blackfire's ship when-"

"Stop!" cried Raven. "I don't want to know what anyone did or said." The dark girl knew she couldn't bear knowing any of her teammate's conversations about her or plans to leave. "Slade told me everything." X's arms dropped out of their smug position and dangled at his sides. He blinked.

"He... _did_?" the thief questioned, clear disbelief choking his tone.

"Yes. Now there's no reason for you to stay or 'help' any further. Leave."

"But... but don't you want to go _after_ them?" X asked, stunned. The conversation obviously was not going as he had figured.

"What? Why? There's not point," replied Raven, her voice growing softer. Again she felt like she was going to burst into tears. It hurt too much to talk about the Titans. "Just leave," she finally managed to say in a stronger tone.

X was at a lost for words; Raven knew Blackfire had her friends captured, but wasn't going to go rescue them? Then something in his mind clicked: _Slade_ had told her everything.

"Hang on, what exactly did-"

"_OUT!_" shouted Raven, pointing back toward the open window.

X looked hurt and surprised as he backed up, but figured he shouldn't protest anymore. He shrugged his shoulders in a defeated sort of way.

"See you around, kid," the thief sighed before hopping out of the window.

**..**

**Next Update: **Nov. 14th. National Hug-A-TV Day.

...just kidding.

btw, if anyone's out of character, please tell me.

Ooh, almost at 100 reviews. :DD Ok, 100th reviewer gets a sneak peak at whatever the next chapter is. I'm in a game-kinda mood tonight. X3;


	15. Raven and Slade vs Three Hive Students

**a.n. gracefulraven-** Thank you very much. :) And... writer's block... tough. Sometimes just forgetting about the story completely for a little while, then going back to it later helps. It also heard that it helps by reworking the scene in question... dunno if you needed help unblocking or not, but if you did, hope this helps. LoL. **Kendra Chetnova-** ooh, harsh. (X: I resent that!) ...j/k But yes, X is a biiiig meddler in my story. :3 **kidsnextdoor112-** Might not get 100 reviews by this chapter... 7 days isn't that long of a time to wait, is it? **faLLen-dreamz-** Hehe, well, that's the kind of reaction X got for being so cocky. LoL. And yes, ma'am, I'm updating. :) **raven717-** Yes, you technically are the 100th.. by cheating! LoL. But okay, sneak peek goes to you. hehe. **Lai-Ku-** Hey, that sounds Chinese. (I am fascinated with oriental stuff... it's ridiculous) Anyway, are you another one who read all the chapters all at once? Wow... all you people with longer attention spans than me. LoL. Very glad you liked it, and I hope I keep your interest in the chapters to come. :) **ShadowDevil-** Yes, I should've added a few more rules and requirements to that. hehe. I'll make sure to do differently on for the 200th marker. :) Yes, Raven is slowly (very slowly) turning evil... it just wouldn't seem like a believable conversion unless she went kicking and screaming. So the evilness takes its time. LoL. Btw, if there would've been no spamming, you would've been the 100th. **VampireSelene-** Something for 101st? Um... -looks around the room- How about a little... Gizmo plushie? j/k Thanks for the review. :) **Tritium-** Yay, another new victim...reviewer. :3 (same thing, really. XD;;)Thank you very much...and actually, Raven asks Slade if he's starting to turn nice...next chapter. I don't want him to turn good, but if he does appear to be taking more after Raven, it won't be for long. Don't worry, he should stay bad for the rest of the story. Bwaha. **psychicflower-** Hey,I was wondering when you'd reply. Your b-day sounded fun, that's cool. hehe. Dude, I would so mark "Talk like a pirate" on my calendar if I knew when it was. XD; And yes, I like those sci-fi shows. Really, the Stargates are the only good shows on sci fi channel. / Would you meet Paul McGillian (if you didn't give his show name, I wouldn't have known who you were talking about, LoL) at a convention or something? Wow, that's cool. Have fun with that. :) Thanks for the review! **lolopixie-** Hehe, misunderstandings are fun. X3; And X left so quickly 'cause he's kinda afraid of Raven's powers... just about everyone is afraid of Raven was she's emotional or angry or something... Fun. Thanks for replying and I'm really glad you like the story so much. :3 Yay. hehe. **SabrinaRocks-** Thank you. :3 Isn't there such a thing as National Hug a tree day? I thought I heard that somewhere... or maybe people were just making fun of environmentalists. I dunno. / LoL 

Chapter 14

Once X was gone, Raven waved her hand to the side and the window was closed. 

With a sigh, the girl slumped onto her bed. She wanted to sleep, but she wasn't tired. She wanted to meditate, but she knew all she would see would be memories of her friends. Raven laid back on her bed, her hands over her eyes and her elbows in the air. She was completely miserable and had no idea how to fix it. 

Suddenly an alarm sounded while lights began flashing red. Raven grabbed a cape from her closet and ran out the door; she felt too drained to use her powers. 

The girl reached the living room in time to see a map and a couple of pictures appear on the large screen. Slade was already there, watching the bottom right-hand corner where a live video was playing. It showed three familiar kids robbing a music and game store, sending all the customers fleeing. Gizmo, wearing his four giant spider legs, was scooping all the video games he could into a bag, Jinx was slowly flipping through a rack of CDs, and Mammoth was emptying the cash register, after having chased off the cashier. 

The map showed that they were in the heart of downtown. Raven stood next to Slade. 

"Am I going this time?" she asked, trying her best to hide her weariness. 

"My soldiers are already en route," replied the man quickly. "However I just might drop by and take care of them myself. It'll give me something to do before lunch. Besides, my soldiers probably won't stand a chance against them." 

Raven watched Jinx with a cold stare. For the longest time the dark girl had wanted to fight her one-on-one and send her flying into the lake. Or a swamp. Whatever would make that pink-haired witch-wannabe scream the loudest. The only time the Hive had been in the tower, Jinx had dyed one of Raven's cloaks bright pink. She deserved whatever Raven could throw at her. 

"Even if I can't fight, can I come anyway?" 

Slade looked from the screen to the dark girl. She had the unmistakable look of revenge in her eyes. The man tilted his head slightly. 

"All right. But you are to do nothing unless I tell you differently. Understand?" 

"Sure," Raven replied absently, still glaring at the live video. 

"Raven," said Slade in a condescending tone, staring down at her critically. The dark girl gave a small huff, looking up at him and shrugging a shoulder. 

"Yes." 

The man led the way out of the room and down a corridor, heading for the garage. 

"I brought my own mode of transportation," he informed her briskly. Reaching into one of the many pouches on his belt, he withdrew a small device and handed it to Raven. 

"I don't need a hearing aid, thanks," the girl said monotonely, staring at the little thing. 

"It's a communicator that fits into your ear. Wear it at all times while we're out," ordered Slade, sounding short-tempered. Raven figured it wise not to say anything more about it, so she silently put it in her ear. 

When they reached the garage, the dark girl found it cluttered with crates for Slade's inventions. Next to the R-cycle, there was a larger, more wicked looking motorcycle. Slade mounted it and started the engine. Not feeling like using her powers to fly still, Raven hopped on Robin's bike, putting his helmet on. 

It didn't take them long to reach the robbers, for the closer to the store they traveled, the less crowded the streets became. When they stopped near the shop, they found all three Hive students on the street fighting the robot soldiers. Only a handful of guards remained undestroyed. 

"Not bad," Raven heard the man mutter. He took his time getting off the motorcycle and arming himself with his staff. The dark girl merely removed the helmet and hung it on a handle in front of her, waiting and watching from her seat on the R-cycle. 

The immediate area was hazy from all the destroyed robots and there was an unfriendly smell of burnt rubber and singed electrical equipment in the air. Sounds of sparking circuits came from all over, as well as a new explosion. Gizmo had just beaten another droid. 

"Whose robots _are_ these?" Jinx spoke up to her friends. 

"Who cares?" retorted Gizmo, steering the walking legs back to her in front of the store. "They're easy to beat. Now let's get outta here before those crud-munching Titans show up." 

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Slade's voice came from behind a broken guard that was smoking profusely, "but you won't be seeing them around these parts anymore." The Hive kids exchanged curious glances. 

"Who's there?" demanded Mammoth, clutching his bag of money even tighter. 

"No Titans? That's the best news we've had in awhile," said Jinx coolly, resting her hands on her hips. She had the glint of vague recognition in her eyes, as if she couldn't quite place that voice. 

"I shouldn't think so," Slade continued. Raven recognized that tone in his voice; he was playing with the Hive. 

"Because this is my territory now," the man said, "and you're not welcome." 

"Oh yeah?" shouted Gizmo, looking wildly around for the source of the voice. "Come out and fight, you brain-farting, snot-drippin' big-chicken-Titan-wannaaAAA!" The sound of breaking equipment followed. Raven squinted to see through haze better. Slade had vaulted over a pile of droids, landed on Gizmo's high-tech backpack, and broken it beneath his weight when he forced it to the ground. Its little owner, who was whining and shouting out all the mean names he could come up with, was picked up by two of the remaining, intact robots. Without his inventions, Gizmo was powerless. 

The remaining teammates were close enough to clearly see the man now. Jinx's eyes widened. 

"Slade! Long time no see. Heard you almost got rid of Titans before, so what are you talking about now?" The pink haired girl sounded as if she were talking to an old friend. 

"Yes, well, I've gotten rid of them again. And this time it's permanent," Slade boasted. Raven shifted uneasily on the bike. She always felt slightly uncomfortable when the man talked about her friends like that. However, this time it didn't bother her as much. 

Mammoth and Jinx looked at each other again. 

"But enough talk. You're still trespassing and I still want you to leave," Slade said. Mammoth hugged his bag of stolen money again. 

"You can't make us give it back!" he shouted. Slade gave an amused sound that resembled a laugh. 

"I wouldn't care if you had robbed the city bank. I just want you out of my city." 

"What ape-brained clod died and made _you_ king of the slappin' city?" yelled Gizmo, outraged. Slade swung his staff around and hit the boy in the gut. Gizmo wheezed and fought against his captors to clutch his stomach. 

Immediately Jinx jumped back, sending bright rays toward the man. He stepped out of their way and right into Mammoth's path, who was charging right toward the man. Just as the Hiveling reached him, Slade jumped over him too and kicked him in the back upon landing. Mammoth stumbled, then fell flat on his face. Just as Slade turned, Jinx shot pink beams his way. The man didn't duck fast enough; the first beam grazed his shoulder, slashing off all the armor and material to his skin, while the other beam snapped Slade's staff in two. 

At that, Raven jumped up; she had just been waiting for an opportunity to fight Jinx. As if sensing her reaction, Slade said over the communicator, "Don't move! Stay where you are!" 

The dark girl paused, considering. She figured he had a plan, and even though she wanted to bash Jinx's face in, she wouldn't want to get on Slade's bad side for disobeying him. So Raven sat back down to watch the fight through the clearing haze. The dark girl had to admit- it was rather entertaining. 

Gizmo was kicking frantically in vain to get away from his two robotic captors, while calling them names at the top of his lungs. His teammates were too busy to help him. Mammoth had picked himself up off the ground and, while Slade was distracted inspecting his wound, had wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders. Standing at full height, the Hive student made sure Slade's feet wouldn't even touch the ground. The man struggled to free his arms from Mammoth's tight lock. 

"That's perfect. Hold him still," Jinx said, a pink energy ball growing between her outstretched hands. Quickly Slade drove his elbow into his captor's gut, breaking his grip. Just as Jinx sent a glowing attack at them, Slade grabbed one of Mammoth's arms and threw him forward, right into the pink energy ball. Mammoth gave a cry, then collapsed, the front of his suit smoking. Jinx looked from her unconscious teammate to Gizmo and finally to Slade. 

"Not bad. But this isn't the last you've seen of the Hive. We'll be back." Immediately she aimed for the two guards holding Gizmo. 

"Oh, but who said this fight was over?" Slade said as Jinx shot one guard. As she attacked the second robot with a pink beam, the man called, "Raven!" 

Gizmo gave a laugh that sounded something between gloating and triumphant. Right when he fell back to the sidewalk, a large, black bubble surrounded him. 

"Hey!" the boy shouted indignantly, pounding on the encasing. "No fair! Lemme _out!_ Lemme out, you-" and he proceeded with a long string of names. 

"I thought you said the Titans were gone!" exclaimed Jinx, glaring suspiciously at Slade. The man shrugged, although his wounded shoulder didn't rise as high as the other one. 

"Would she still be considered a Titan if she worked for me?" 

Raven rose out of the pavement directly behind Jinx. The dark girl's eyes were a bright white, and with a flick of her hand, Jinx's wrists were locked together with shadow cords. First Raven sent her flying into a pile of broken robots, then bouncing hard against the cement. Only when the dark girl sent Jinx through the music store's large front window did Slade stop her. 

"You want to scare her, not kill her," he said reprimandingly. 

Just then Mammoth stirred. Before he could push himself up, the Gizmo bubble rammed into his back, knocking him down again. 

"You can't make us give all the loot back, you-" 

"I already said you could take it," Slade interrupted almost boredly, picking up the bag of video games Gizmo had dropped and tossing it at the bubble. It hit the dark barrier and bounced off. 

"However, show your faces here again and we won't be so kind," the man added. He turned and headed back for the bikes. 

"But Slade, what do we do with them?" Raven asked, pointing to the Gizmo bubble with a bewildered expression. 

"I'll send some more soldiers to get rid of them," he replied with a nonchalant tone. The dark girl slowly followed, repeatedly looking back to make sure the Hive wouldn't suddenly escape. "But.. won't you send them to jail?" questioned Raven, mounting the R-cycle. Slade had already started his bike. 

"What for? They're bound to get out anyway. I really don't care what happens to them, as long as it happens somewhere else." He revved the engine and took off, leaving Raven to put on her helmet and look back once more at the Hive. They didn't seem so tough now. 

By the time they returned to the tower, Raven was tired yet hungry. As they walked back to the living room, she took out the small ear bud and offered it back to Slade. 

"Keep it," he told her. "You'll need it later." She raised her eyebrows. 

"You mean you're going to be sending me out from now on?" the dark girl said, a hint of hopefulness clinging to her words. 

"We'll see. It depends how strong the enemy is. You and Jinx were pretty evenly matched. However, you never gave her a chance to attack you... or to even see you, for that matter." Raven could've sworn she heard a slight chuckle. Just then they entered the living room and the dark girl immediately floated over to the fridge. 

"It probably wasn't a fair fight," she said slowly, rummaging around for something to eat. The dark girl was surprised to find it restocked with fresh, edible food, and pulled out the ingredients to make a sandwich. 

"All's fair in love and war," quoted Slade. He stopped at the counter and watched her get a plate and knife from the cupboards. "You wanted revenge, so you took it." Raven stopped dead in her opening of the mayonnaise jar. 

"I... I didn't, I mean..." 

"You don't have to worry, my dear. Contrary to what the Titans probably told you, revenge is fine. It's better to take it out on the intended target than keep those hateful feelings bottled up. It's a powerful drive, revenge. And sometimes it truly is sweet. There's really no feeling stronger than that... except of course for-" he stopped short. Raven looked up from folding another slice of ham on the sandwich. 

"What?" she prompted. The dark girl was expecting Slade to say 'hate' or something along those lines. She scraped the knife in the mayo jar, then began to apply it to a piece of bread. "What, you weren't going to say 'love,' were you?" added the girl with a light snicker. When Slade looked away, Raven's eyes bulged. She completely forgot about her lunch. _"Were you?"_ The dark girl was taken by surprise. Slade, love... was that even possible? _"You_ loved someone?" she asked incredulously. "Did you have a girlfriend?" 

After a long pause, Slade sighed, "No... a wife." 

- 

X was in Cyborg's room, fiddling away at the computer. He had entered the tower once Slade and Raven left and searched for the most private computer. Finally he had found it and started accessing files. It took some cracking of the newest codes, but soon he brought up the page he had been searching for: all the Titans' allies. Or at least, the ones who had been made honorary members. 

Scanning down, he noticed a few names he recognized, like Aqualad and Speedy. X hurriedly typed out a message and sent it to all Titans communicators. He didn't have to worry about Slade finding out; Raven's had already been destroyed. And Blackfire wouldn't be able to get to the other communicators the rest had- if she even knew they had been called at all. 

There was nothing to do but wait for replies. Carefully, X shut down the computer and sneaked out of the room and out of the tower. The only way for the honorary members to reply was to show up, and if the Titans trusted them enough to give them communicators, then so would X. He was going to show Raven he was right about her friends, but he needed all the help he was sending out for- if not more. 

--  
**Next Update:** November 21st. Anything happening on that day? I dunno. 

Heee... the Gizmo bubble. I dunno why that's so funny to me. X3; 

mmkay, I had a lot of trouble uploading this thing this time... like where all the quotation marks should be, it was instead those upside-down Spanish exclamation marks. So it took a lot longer to fix it all. Is this just a glitch or a widespread problem? Plus it kept uploading in poetry format, I think, instead of story format. :( All these malfunctions are getting annoying. x.x;


	16. Plannings

**a.n.** **gracefulraven-** Thank you and I'm glad I could help. And how do you reply so quickly? dang... LoL. **ShadowDevil-** Yes, that was the final try/draft thing. And if makes me do that again, I'll... be like Gizmo and say mean things about them. hehe. And... what about winning? I'm a little confused. o.O; **VampireSelene-** Actually, the 24th is Thanksgiving. :) ...are you American? Just wonderin', ëcause T-Day is written on all these calendars all over, so... yeah. heh. **SabrinaRocks-** Ok, I checked "National Hug a Tree Day" out on google... and I guess it's really "Arbor Day," but the invitation thing is to "Hug a tree." That's not very exciting. But there is such a thing as a Hug-a-Tree Committee. o.O; wow. LoL. Thanks for the review. :3 **kidsnextdoor112-** I'm glad I could make your day. :) Hope all those triangles or pentagons or whatever kind of geometrical shapes work out okay. LoL. **raven717-** Thank you very much. Hope you don't treat your schoolwork like that. :p heh, j/k. **lolopixie-** Yay, a vote of confidence for X. :) LoL. And not too many guys come up... just three. I just don't want to bring in too many characters and get overcrowded and all. You know, with those fire hazard safety things and all... hehe. But you see who all comes in this chapter. **Aietradaea-** A penny to know how to pronounce that... LoL. Wow, your review is the first that's really mentioned Slade's wife. Mebbe everyone else has just read the comics... / heh. No, the wife was definitely not Blackfire. That's a scary thought, actually... -eye twitch- But I'm glad you still like the story. Thanks for the review. :) **Kendra Chetnova-** Aaah! Keep your monkeys away from my butt... o.O;; LoL, I'm glad you like the plot and all... and it's just gonna get thicker. :3 weehee... **faLLen-dreamz-** Don't worry, Raven's still gonna be suspicious. Like in this chapter. And X is so sneaky, I love it. :3 He assembles his little team here, too. Actually, the majority of this chapter is devoted to X. **Tritium-** Slade really wasn't trying in the Hive battle. It was mainly a fight to get Raven involved... but hopefully he regains his animation glory. You hate Mondays? I always update on a Monday:( LoL j/k **Lai-Ku-** Hehe, wait for the 200th to get a sneak peek. Thankies for the review. One of my friends reading this story when I'm writing it out by hand likes Gizmo, too. He's her favorite character in here... so hopefully I'm getting him right. :) More Gizmo-ness to come. More of X to come, too. More of X than Gizmo, I think. :3 ****

Chapter 15

A long silence followed Slade's revelation. Raven tried her best to comprehend Slade having a wife, but it was challenging. She wondered if the man hadn't meant to let that slip.

Slade, too, wondered why he had told Raven that. He looked out over the water, cursing himself for even opening his mouth in the first place. The man had to be extremely careful around Raven and watch what he said, because there was still a chance she could turn against him.

Suddenly Raven found her voice. "That's... um, that's- that's... wow." The dark girl pushed away her plate with the almost-finished sandwich; she was too surprised to be hungry anymore. Raven knew that Slade had secrets- big secrets- but she always figured they were evil and dark.

"What happened to her?" she asked cautiously. The girl thought she had never been so curious about a subject in her life. _Mrs._ Slade? Raven would never have believed it if she hadn't heard it from him. She pictured Slade's suit and armor and mask on a female body and found it almost funny.

"I want you to forget you ever heard that," the man said at last, finally looking back at Raven. The dark girl stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and disbelief in her gaze. Just as she was about to reply, Slade turned and marched for the nearest exit, holding the arm with the wounded shoulder.

It might have been possible, with many meditations, to forget what Slade had said, but after he _told_ her to, there was no _way_ she'd forget it now. But really, who was there to tell? 

Raven walked over to the newly re-shattered window space and stared out over the water. After an hour or so, the dark girl could meditate, and she hovered in front of the empty window pane until evening. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the sun was almost set. Raven felt better, though. Not nearly as lonely as she had after countless meditations before.

As she set her feet on the ground, Slade entered the room followed by two robot guards. The dark girl could see that under the large whole in the man's suit, his wounded shoulder had been bandaged. He carried his arm as if it was in a sling.

Slade was giving orders in a low voice when Raven floated over, her arms folded across her chest. She waited patiently for the discussion to end, but when the man had dismissed the guards, he turned to the computer and began searching through files; ignoring her. Raven's eyes narrowed and her foot started loudly tapping on the floor, quick echoes following. Still she was paid no attention.

"So I've been wondering," the dark girl spoke up at last.

"Yes?" questioned Slade impatiently, his left hand quickly darting across the keyboard almost as fast as if he could use both hands.

"Are you a good guy now? You're ridding the city of enemies just like we did," she replied, inspecting him as if his mask could betray his intentions.

"I assure you, my dear, my motives are not as... honorable... as your friends' were. However, if anyone who could be a threat or a nuisance to me shows up, I will do everything necessary to get rid of him."

"So you're doing it for your own selfish reasons," accused Raven, moving her hands to her hips.

"Either way, the city's safe. Isn't that what really matters?" the man replied with a bored tone. He didn't take his eyes off the screen.

An expression resembling disgust flashed across Raven's face, lingering slightly before vanishing completely. "Motives mean everything," she protested in a sharp hiss.

"Wonderful," Slade replied in a slightly sardonic, monotone voice. "Anything else?" The girl felt her face flush with frustration. She hated it when he treated her like such an inferior.

"Sure," said Raven with an obvious tone, "what's for dinner?"

-

X checked the area around him impatiently. He was waiting near the bay, far out of sight of the Tower. The thief was hidden in the deep shadows of the forest, carefully watching for any signs of movement. X anxiously tapped his fingers on his knees.

"Come on... come _on,"_ he growled under his breath. Suddenly the sound of splashing caught his attention and his gaze shifted to the middle of the bay. There a torso surfaced and the body started swimming to shore. Cautiously, X crept from his hiding place and over to meet the boy walking out of the water.

"Aqualad, glad you could make it," the thief greeted in a friendly tone. The raven haired boy stared suspiciously at X, then his dark eyes darted around in search of anyone else.

"Who are you? Where are the Titans?" demanded Aqualad quickly.

"Easy, fish-boy," X said when Aqualad appeared ready to fight. "I'm the one who called everyone here." Again the newcomer looked around carefully.

"Everyone? No one else is-"

"Hey," called a voice from above the two. Looking up, they saw Hotspot being propelled like a jet by the powerful flames from his fists. Once the fire disappeared, he dropped to the ground. Hotspot looked from the thief to the friend, then pointed to X. "Who's the new guy?"

"I'm the one who called you here. I'm still expecting some more people. This is important," replied the thief. Aqualad still had a suspicious expression plastered on his face.

"Then why aren't the Titans here?"

"That's why I called you all. Something's come up." Hotspot and Aqualad exchanged curious glances. Just then the roar of an engine was heard from around the bend in the beach, and the three boys could barely see a plume of sand above the treetops, silhouetted against the night sky. Soon a figure on a motorcycle rounded the corner and came into view, its headlight practically blinding them. It stopped next to the small group, Speedy sitting on it.

"Sorry I took so long," he said quickly, although it didn't really sound like an apology. He dismounted the bike and took a long moment to look at everybody. "What'd I miss?"

"I'm still expecting Wildebeest," X spoke up, searching up and down the short beach for any other signs of life.

"He's off on his own mission. He's been away for over a month," informed Aqualad, not sounding any less critical than before. "Expecting anyone else?"

A mechanical sigh vented from X's mask. "No, I guess not. Okay, here's the deal: Raven's joined Slade and the rest of the Titans are prisoners aboard Starfire's sister's ship. I don't know how exactly they got captured, and I don't know where they are now. The ship was here earlier, but left. I don't think Raven knows the truth about her friends, but if she did, I think she'd help us. I couldn't get through to her, so instead I thought I'd go find and free her friends. But I need your help." The three honorary Titans looked at each other, seeing if the others understood it or believed it any better.

After a long pause, Speedy asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm X. Maybe you've heard of me?" the thief replied, puffing up his chest.

"No," the others said immediately, shaking their heads.

"Oh," X sighed with obvious disappointment. "Well, me and the Titans go _way_ back."

"Funny... they've never talked about you," replied Aqualad. He folded his arms across his chest, inspecting the thief. He was still not completely convinced.

"It's not like I've heard a thousand tales about _you_ either," X retorted coldly.

Hotspot slowly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it doesn't sound like you have much of a plan worked out."

"Why would he be in charge anyway?" Speedy said quickly with a sharp jerk of his head toward the thief.

"Because if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even _know_ the Titans had been compromised," growled X. He was thoroughly annoyed that the three weren't completely believing him and falling in rank under his command.

"Okay, true," Aqualad said, sounding not as harsh as before, "but why call us?"

"The Titans trusted you to help them before, so now I trust you to help me save them," the thief explained with a modest shrug.

"A big leap of faith, trusting people you've never met," said Hotspot, looking from Aqualad to Speedy to see their opinions. The archer, however, was still suspicious of X's intentions. 

"Why go to such lengths to help them?" he demanded. The thief's head snapped around and stared at Speedy, matching his glare. After a tense silence, X finally said, "Why not? You'd do the same." He looked at the other two. "I'm going to rescue the Titans, but I can't do it single-handedly. If you won't help, I'll find people who will." With that he turned and began marching away.

"I'll help," Hotspot announced, following X. Speedy and Aqualad stayed where they were, watching the other two leave, then looking at each other. The archer neared his friend.

"What do you think?" the masked boy asked in a low voice. "I've never even seen this guy before."

"Something doesn't sit right with me, either, but he does know more than we do. Besides, I owe it to the Titans to help them. They've helped me a couple of times," said Aqualad, keeping a close eye on the retreating X all the while.

"Yeah, of course. I'm all into helping the Titans, but I don't like the idea of blindly following some stranger. There's gotta be something in this for him."

"But until we know what that is, we're going to have to trust him," the long-haired boy replied. He took a step toward X and Hotspot, who were quite a distance away by now. Aqualad hesitated, waiting for his friend to follow.

"Fine," consented Speedy begrudgingly. "But the second we find out his game, and if it's not the same as what he's told us, we're taking him out of leadership." Aqualad gave an acknowledging nod of his head, then returned to the water to catch up with the other two. Speedy mounted his motorcycle and drove after X and Hotspot.

The thief only stopped walking when Titans Tower was in full view, even after everyone else had caught up. Many lights were on, causing the waters reflecting them to almost glow. X watched the building from behind a tree; he wasn't going to take any chances with so many guards patrolling the tower.

"Okay, we're going to need a base of operations," he told the other three. "We can't storm the tower, because there're too many enemies. Even if we could get past the legions of robots, we'd have to deal with Slade, and he's got Raven on his side. So to get her on our side, we need to find and free the Titans. Plus, if we did, we'd have four extra guys on our side."

"But you don't even know where the Titans are," Speedy reminded quickly.

"Yeah, so I want to break into the tower and their computer to find out the ship's last coordinates," said X.

"Wait, so explain to me: Why isn't Raven helping at all? Why did she switch sides?" Hotspot questioned, sounding angry at the thought of one of the Titans as a traitor.

"Don't hold it against her... she's going through a hard time right now," the thief replied softly, breaking his intent gaze on the tower and staring off into space for a moment.

-

Gizmo laid on his big beanbag chair, which was more like a bed for him, listening to the new music they had just stolen. The three had been deposited outside the city limits- with all their loot- so they just returned home. Home for the Hivelings was a giant, abandoned warehouse on the bay, but decorated with all the things they had stolen over the years, it was actually quite nice.

Just as Gizmo's favorite part in the song was coming up, his head phones were jerked off.

"Didn't you hear me?" demanded Jinx with an agitated glint in her eyes.

"Hey!" shouted Gizmo, reaching fiercely for the headphones. Before he could start issuing insults, Mammoth picked him up and carried him over to the large, circular table in the middle of the warehouse. This was their official spot for meetings, although sometimes it served for meals, too.

"Now that we're all here," Jinx spoke up in an official, pompous manner, "I'd like to discuss the matter of Slade." At that Gizmo gave a scoffing noise. "Who cares?"

"You should," the girl argued. "He's worse than the Titans, and by barring us from the city- which he says is _his_ city- he's sent us a direct challenge. We can't just let him walk all over us! We're going to retaliate!"

"But he's got so many robots. If he sent them all after us, we'd lose even worse," protested Mammoth. Another unpleasant cry for attention came from Gizmo.

"Just marry the idiot. Then he'd let us do whatever we want in the stupid city. We'd have free reign!" The boy's arms shot into the air and he held that victorious pose.

"We can't compromise- _share_ the city," Jinx retorted. Gizmo's arms dropped. "We have to meet his challenge. And if we round up everyone who hated the Titans, we'll have a whole _army._ One that could rival Slade's robots."

"But why would people who didn't like the Titans go after Slade?" questioned Mammoth. He looked to see if the little inventor understood it any better.

"We'll just have to convince them how much worse it will be if Slade stays in power. At least with the Titans we could get away with some stuff." Jinx paused to see if her teammates had gotten it yet. Slowly, realization was dawning on their faces.

"If we round up enough people to get rid of Slade, then there will be no one to stop us- anyone- from doing anything we want," she added slowly, savoring the thought.

"Total anarchy," said Gizmo with an evil grin.

"Or we could take over Slade's soldiers... and the city," Mammoth suggested. 

"We could set up our own _empire!" _exclaimed Jinx. Instantly thoughts of grandeur overwhelmed her. Gizmo cackled hysterically.

"A war for the city- bad versus badder. With all the Titan-haters I'll scrounge up, that cruddy idiot Slade won't stand a _chance!"  
_  
--  
**Next Update: **November 28th, the day after the day after the day after Thanksgiving. :) That Monday's gotta have some credit, now...

Okay, so everyone have a safe Thanksgiving and have fun painting turkey eggs and all... hehe.


	17. Hideouts and Breakouts

**a.n.** Everyone's Thanksgiving went well, I hope? Mine was awesome. My cousin and I entertained the family with old video games, then around 7 pm convinced our dads to take us to go see the fourth Harry Potter movie. :3 It was the second time both of us saw it, and we still loved it. LoL. -sigh- Krum...

**raex18-** Hey, long time no see. And yes, X does have his motives, but I shall never admit them in the story. X3; Thanks for the reivew. hehe. **ShadowDevil-** Nyeh, I don't really want a Raven/X story... and I really don't know why I'm writing it like that. XD But no, it won't turn out that way. And thanks for clarifying. :) **faLLen-dreamz-** The other Titans...as in Titans east... T.E. will never, ever, ever appear as that group in this story. The only people from that group have already shown up- Speedy and Aqualad. Bumblebee just annoyed me to no end. And the rest of the regular Titans... well, they really don't have a POV right now... back in chap. 12 you found out that they were captured aboard Blackfire's ship. Completely frozen. So they're kinda out of it right now. LoL. And you'll see what happens with Jinx and all. I love Gizmo! XD; **VampireSelene-** Ooh, braces. I had those for like three years. x.x; Fun. And I'm homeschooled too. :D All me life! (Yes, not a typo). Well, hope your Thanskgiving was good. Thanks for the review. **lolopixie-** Thank you very much. :3 I like thick plots. hehe. Hope I keep your interest through the rest of the story. **gracefulraven-** Thanks and I look forward to reading your new chapter, too. :) **kidsnextdoor112-** Thankee, thankee. Wow..that guy sounds... wow. o.O; Yeah, at least it's over. I have no clue what that's like ëcause I really don't have much of a social life. XD;; **SabrinaRocks-** Thanks, and yes, Google's great. Wow. The dude who came up with that must be ridiculously rich by now. That must be nice. LoL. **Tritium-** Yes, not every chapter is action-packed... but hopefully I can make the final fight good. I'm not too good with writing fights. / Glad you liked it though and thanks for the review. **psycicflower-** Aw, do you have an Irish accent and everything:D That's probably a really stupid question, but... I dunno why I'm fascinated by accents. LoL. Good luck on your exams. My finals are coming up soon, too. Slightly depressing, actually. Tell me if you do get to meet that guy. :) (Forgot his name already X3;) ëTwas nice talking to you. hehe.   
Aw, spiracle and LM22102 are kinda... MIA...****

Chapter 16

The next day Raven was so tired, she slept through most of the morning- including her early training session. For awhile, Slade didn't notice because he had been preoccupied most of the morning. However, when it was nearing noon and he realized he had not seen the dark girl all day, he sent a couple of robots to fetch her.

Ten minutes later, a disheveled, groggy-looking Raven slumped in followed by the two robots, which had accumulated numerous gashes in their armor. Slade's eye lingered on the guards as one's head twitched when sparks shot from broken circuits on its neck.

"Not a morning person, I take it?" the man commented, mostly to himself.

"They snuck up on me," defended the dark girl, a sleepy yet grumpy look in her eyes. Raven folded her arms across her chest and tried to look tough, but with her tired expression, she looked drugged. Slade admitted a small chuckle, but then his tone grew sharply serious again.

"What were you doing in bed so late? You have obligations, you know. I expected better from you, Raven." The dark girl winced at his tone.

"Sorry," she said begrudgingly. Slade's eye flicked from her to his wounded robots.

"I have a new training for you- on top of your daily practices, of course. From now on, you will fix every guard you damage or break," the man said. Raven's eyes widened with disbelief; all traces of sleepiness instantly vanished from her face.

"Robin and Cyborg were the technical ones, not me," protested the dark girl, taking a step backward. Slade gave a dismissive shrug. Although his suit had been repaired, it was still obvious which was his wounded shoulder, for he didn't move it too much.

"You'll learn," the man said simply. Raven let a desperate sigh escape. The last thing she wanted was more responsibilities. The dark girl was not exactly sure why, but she did not want to disappoint Slade's expectations. That, however, would be exceedingly difficult when she had countless things to learn.

"Is this just so I'll stop destroying your toys?" Raven questioned, eyeing the injured robot to her left.

"That is one benefit, yes, but it should also teach you discipline and respect for other people's property." The man leaned forward and added in a threatening tone, "You think I _like_ repairing all the soldiers you _break_?" Raven fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze. The dark girl never thought how much trouble she caused Slade, and now she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. Not completely guilty, of course, just slightly.

"So now what?" she questioned softly, almost respectfully. Slade looked to the new window that a few soldiers were in the process of setting in the window pane.

"Now," he said, not even glancing at the girl, "we have a new schedule. Every morning practice in the training room, every afternoon we will be outside practicing your powers, and every other time you will be working on the robots." Finally he turned to Raven. "Got it?"

"Yes," the dark girl huffed. With the Titans, she was used to at most one group practice, if not every other day, and developing her powers at her own speed. With this schedule being imposed on her, it strangely made her feel defensive, if not hostile toward the rules.

"Don't I get time to myself?" she asked.

"What for?" retorted Slade quickly.

"Meditating... eating... sleeping. I'm still allowed to do those things, right?" questioned the dark girl, sarcasm dripping. She had what Slade considered a mutinous expression, and her attitude was getting old. He leaned forward until he was eye-level with Raven, and he was so close she could feel the breath hissing from his mask.

"I grow tired of your lack of respect, and if you continue to have such little self-control, I will make sure your life becomes excruciatingly difficult. Even if I have to beat it into you, you will learn discipline. Mark my words, child." Immediately ten retorts jumped to the tip of her tongue, but she kept her mouth closed. Raven felt abashed that Slade had referred to her as ëchild,' after he hadn't for so long. The dark girl knew it had been on purpose to put her in her place and make her feel inferior. It had worked.

The man straightened and signaled for the two injured robots to leave. His hands behind his back, Slade began to slowly pace a short stretch in front of Raven. "However," he began in a lighter tone than before, "if you conform and behave, you will have a better time. You'll be trusted." At that the girl's head snapped up and she watched Slade carefully as he walked.

The man pretended not to notice her sudden eagerness, but he couldn't help sounding pleased. "Now it is completely up to you how your life here will be. Your acting up won't be tolerated anymore. You'll soon be an adult- act your age." Slade stopped pacing and looked at Raven. "You should eat now. Then you'll get your first mechanics lesson-" The man's voice came to an abrupt stop when the intruder alarm began blaring. The two immediately turned to the screen to see a blue print of the tower appear, and a large dot pinpointing the location of the intruder.

"The computer room?" Raven said to herself.

"It's probably that thief. Those robots better've put new passwords in there," growled Slade, hurrying over and bringing new information to the screen. 

"I've got it," the dark girl said quickly, before being swallowed by a giant shadow raven and flying through the ceiling.

The dark girl landed right outside the computer room door; it was the only exit. Her fists were engulfed in darkness and she waited for X to shoot out. As Raven stood there, her mind searched for any possible reason there could be for why the thief had returned. A minute later the door slid open. A disc in his hand, Aqualad stepped out and stopped short upon seeing the Titan. 

"Raven!" he said, a hint of fear in his voice. The shadow around the girl's hands completely vanished.

"Aqualad? What... what are you doing here?" asked the dark girl. Her surprise was evident.

The boy lifted up the burned disc, "I needed this info for an operation I'm undertaking."

"You could've just asked if it was that important. You set off the alarm and everything," said Raven, an expression close to a smile on her face. However, her brows were slightly furrowed as she attempted to figure out why Aqualad was acting strangely... almost unfriendly. Footsteps echoed from down the hall.

"Yeah, well, gotta go," the boy announced quickly, taking a couple steps backward. He waited to see if Raven made any move to stop him, and when she didn't, a relieved look swept over his face. "Thanks," Aqualad said before turning and sprinting down the corridor. Raven's expression was consumed by confusion.

"For what?" she asked, but the boy was long gone. The dark girl turned to see a group of robots march up and halt behind her. They all looked at her expectantly. The foremost guard extended his hand to offer Raven her earpiece communicator, which the girl took somewhat reluctantly. 

"Well?" she heard when she activated the small device. "Did you stop him?" Raven knew she the man still thought the intruder had been X, and she was torn between correcting him and letting it go.

"Answer me, Raven," Slade demanded, his tone thick with impatience.

"Uh, no... he got away," she finally replied. The man was silent for awhile.

"Fine," he said at length, "send the robots to track him and get ready for your training." Raven again looked at the soldiers waiting behind her, all their eyes on her.

"Me? Give _them_ orders?"

"Yes," replied the man simply, as if it was something she had been doing for a long time.

"Is that what they're waiting for?" Raven questioned. Her voice betrayed her surprise and failure to completely understand this new situation.

"I told you things would go well if you behaved. As a token of my trust, you now have a squadron of obedient robots under your command. Do with them what you will, but their repair and maintenance lies solely on you. So the sooner you learn mechanics, my dear, the better."

The dark girl looked again at the squadron and, for the first time, saw the robots in a different light. The ten guards standing there were hers. They would do anything she ordered. They wouldn't listen to Slade, they'd listen to _her._ A whole new set of responsibilities had been entrusted to Raven, and for once the dark girl didn't mind. It was like having then pets; ten large, powerful, semi-intellegent pets. A new feeling arose in her, a feeling of authority and protectiveness over her soldiers, and a feeling of conquest to get more.

-

Aqualad surfaced on the other side of the bay after swimming from Titans Tower. His three teammates discarded their hiding places to meet him.

"Didja get it?" X asked immediately. Aqualad, out of breath, merely waved the disc between his fingers before handing it to the thief. 

"All the conversations and everything?" X asked again. The other boy nodded, still breathing heavily.

"How'd it go? I mean, did you run into Slade?" questioned Hotspot eagerly.

"No," panted Aqualad with a shake of his head, "Raven." The attention of the other two guys was immediately captured.

"What happened? Did she attack you?" X demanded.

"She just let me go. Said I could've asked for any information."

"Hm," the thief said after a long pause. "Well, at least she hasn't been totally converted to the dark side."

"Maybe she'll help us after all," Speedy spoke up.

"Even if, we still have a lot to do on our own. Like finding a headquarters," replied X, looking at each of the three boys in turn. "Hopefully someone has good news for me this time."

When no one answered, Speedy announced, "I think I've got something. It's downtown, so we can keep a close eye on the tower, and completely inconspicuous. We'd never be found."

"Lead on," X said, although his eyes were set in a skeptical stare.

-

"You've gotta be kidding me," mumbled X once the group had arrived at Speedy's destination. They were right outside the Mega Arcade, which was five stories tall and bustling with gamers.

"The basement is huge and as high tech as the rest of this place, and we can keep people from coming down by saying, ëtechnical difficulties, enter at own risk, sudden death,'" Speedy said happily.

"Actually, that might encourage people to enter," added Hotspot, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked blankly at the building.

X sighed. "We've got no other option, I guess. Fine, let's use it."

-

Slade and Raven were in a corner of the Titans' spacious garage, huddled over the torso of a robot lying on a workbench. For the past half hour after lunch, Slade had been teaching the girl the basics. To the man's disappointment, Raven was not catching on as quickly as he would've liked, and he was becoming frustrated. 

"No, no, _no._ That wire doesn't go there, it goes _here,"_ snapped Slade. He pulled a black wire from the plug Raven had stuck it in and inserted it into the plug next to it. The dark girl vented an annoyed huff and restrained herself from snapping back.

"So when does this thing finally jump to life?" she asked, skillfully suppressing a tone.

"When all the pieces are assembled," replied Slade quickly. However, the man didn't have the same amount of control over his temper as Raven did. The dark girl looked to the end of the table. In an unorganized pile were the arms, legs, and various other pieces that still needed to be attached to the droid.

"Great," Raven sighed, an exhausted slouch rounding her shoulders. "Are we supposed to completely fix it today?"

"We'll see."

-

Gizmo cackled as two jail officers fell unconscious before him. "This is way too easy, really. Can't they get anyone _challenging?"_

"I'd rather not waste my powers on feisty humans," scoffed Jinx, fixing her pink hair. Once Gizmo moved out of the way, the girl bombarded the thick jail door with her powers. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were a couple of bent hinges.

"Nice," the boy inventor said with a wicked smile. Johnny Rancid appeared in the doorway.

"Okay, let's go," called Jinx, motioning for the prisoner to follow, but Johnny stayed where he was. 

"What's goin' on?"

"We're the room service," Gizmo snapped sarcastically. "Whaddaya _think,_ Einstein? We're breakin' ya outta this stupid joint." Annoyed, the girl put a hand on Gizmo's shoulder to calm him down.

"Who are you, anyway?" questioned Johnny skeptically.

"We're the Hive and we're recruiting you. Your services are needed," Jinx replied professionally.

Gizmo knocked her hand off him. "Yeah," he added, "now we're gonna break out Dr. Light. He's another idiot who got himself locked up like you did."

-

With a feeling of accomplishment and triumph, Raven finished connecting the right arm to the droid's torso.

"When he's all put back together, will he be mine, too?" the dark girl asked as she covered some exposed shoulder circuits with an armor plate. 

"No," Slade replied immediately. "Just be content with what you have now." A cold silence fell between them. Raven walked around to the other side of the table and began repairing wires around the shoulder. She worked diligently and silently, and by ignoring the man, she clearly showed her distaste for his snappish behavior.

Finally Slade added, "The more trustworthy you are, the more responsibility and power you will earn."

"So it's a bribe?" questioned the girl flatly, looking up at the man. "Be nice and get stuff?"

"I would never bribe you, my dear," Slade said firmly. "It's a deserving reward. For your maturity in discipline and respect, you prove yourself worthy to handle the responsibility. So you get it."

Raven was about to reply when alarms went off and a red light began flashing in the garage. On a small screen next to the door, pictures of several criminals came up, and behind that was a road map of the city. Three red dots marked jails that had been hit. Several other dots indicated where the escapees were currently headed.

"Dr. Light, Cinderblock, Johnny Rancid... all escaped?" read the dark girl with widening eyes. Her head jerked back to Slade. "We've got to stop them!"

"What for? They're leaving the city," the man replied cooly, inspecting the robot on the table.

"But they broke out of jail!" protested Raven.

"Yes, and much later than I expected, too," mumbled Slade. "With their powers, they could've forced their way out countless times earlier. But at least they're leaving the city. They'll be someone else's problem now." Raven eyed him critically.

"But they're part of my responsibility. They broke out of jails in _my_ town. I should-"

"No, you shouldn't," Slade interrupted. "Get back to work." He nodded at the robot torso and stared at her until she finally returned to fixing the circuits.

The dark girl worked in silence for awhile, Slade constantly watching her technique. After a couple of minutes, Raven spoke up. "Can I ask you something?" The man glanced from the robot to her, as if trying to discover what kind of question she was preparing.

"That depends on what kind of answer you're searching for."

Raven hesitated. "I just wanted to know... how did you lose your eye?"

Slade stared long and hard at the dark girl, debating whether or not he could tell her. Finally he said, "It's the price I paid for slow reflexes. In my old profession, you could count how many mistakes the men made by the scars they bore." Raven stopped fiddling with the robot to listen. Slade looked to the far wall as if trying to remember part of his life he hadn't thought about in ages.

"Were you a soldier?" asked the dark girl. Slade's head quickly snapped back, all traces of him being lost in his memories was gone.

"Something like that," he replied in a tone to end the discussion. "Once you finish that arm, that'll be all for today."

Raven's attention was again captured by alarms ringing throughout the tower. The screen next to the door flashed on again with a map of the city, a picture of Plasmus and a red dot heading for the city limits. 

"Another one? This can't all be a coincidence- something's up!" exclaimed the dark girl, dropping her tools onto the table. Just as she turned to the R-cycle, Slade reached across the table, grabbed her hood and pulled her back, almost choking her in the process.

"I told you before- they are not your problem. Now work!"

Raven stared at him with cruel disbelief. "But something's up. All those prisoners are going toward the same place, and they're far too stupid to have come up with any plan themselves. They-"

_"They_ are no threat to me," Slade interrupted firmly.

"On their own, no, but together- they could dismantle your entire robot army," protested the dark girl. She picked up a welding torch and pointed it at the man. "And when that happens, I am _not_ fixing them."

-

X walked around the spacious basement of the Mega Arcade, which was well lit and had many chairs besides those connected to the video game machines. Most of the monitors, built right into the wall, were blank; extra computers for people to bring their own games to play. It was these that Speedy and Hotspot were using to hack into all kinds of cameras all over town. 

"Done," Speedy said, entering one last code into the computer. "Now if all those evildoers even run a red light, we'll know about it." At his somewhat-sarcastic tone, X arched a brow.

"You don't sound convinced," said the thief. Speedy slouched in his chair.

"I still don't think you've got very much planned. It's obvious when people are making stuff up as they go along."

"Working on a team ain't something I'm used to, but I _do_ have a plan. You just have to _follow_ it," growled X, glaring at the archer.

"So what've you come up with?" Hotspot asked, looking up at the thief from his seat. X withdrew from his belt the disc Aqualad retrieved from the Titans Tower.

"If fishboy got everything I told him, then this has all the last know coordinates of Blackfire's ship, and all the conversation logs between her ship and the tower. And if you guys are as good as I think you are, we'll find her ship in no time. Then we'll pay Blackfire a little visit, save the Titans, bring ëem back, and crush Slade." He paused to look at the other three. "Tell me if I need to make it any simpler." His gaze landed on Speedy.

The archer shrugged begrudgingly. "Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" He extended his hand, waiting for the disc. X tossed it to Speedy, then crowded with Aqualad and Hotspot around the monitor to watch.

-

The Hive surveyed their escapees with smugness. Dr. Light, Johnny Rancid, Cinderblock, and Plasmus and Mumbo broken out by Mammoth were there.

"We need a couple more, just to be sure," Jinx said to her teammates, "but I know Slade can't possibly stand a chance."

"I sent a message to Atlas- he was one of Cyborg's personal enemies," Mammoth replied, dropping into a chair and letting one arm hang over the back. "If he shows, he shows." 

"Yeah, well I got something ten times better than _that,"_ Gizmo cackled gleefully, bopping past the other two, holding a large mechanical platform. It was almost as wide as the little inventor was tall and had a bull's eye on the top, directing where one was to stand. Gizmo set it down in a clear space halfway between the Hive and the gang of new recruits.

"I met this guy when he wrenched me right outta this world- and in the middle of my lunch, too, that idiot. But seeing as how he can steal people's powers, he might come in handy if this crud-munching bunch is the slappin' best we can do." The boy whipped out a remote control and pressed the topmost button. Instantly the room darkened as blue light in a cylindrical shape appeared above the platform.

"What _is_ that?" Jinx cried, half in fear, half in amazement.

"This can rip anyone from anywhere- even other galaxies or dimensions. Took me forever to get it right," replied Gizmo as he watched particles start to appear and combine in the blue light, slowly forming something bigger. Finally, the light disappeared, the room returned to normal, and there on the platform stood the Master of Games.

--  
**Next Update:** Dec. 5th... ooh, my mom's b-day.

I have a question to all you writers out there... how do you add those long lines to break up sections in the story? LoL... I have no clue how to do that...


	18. Team Chosen or X's Secret

**a.n.** I have no clue how radar works... so either I got it right here or I make myself look like an idiot. :) Either way, hope you know what I mean... (example: as I was proofreading it, I found that I had made the plural of 'radar' 'radars.' yeah.)  
Also, another double title. Just 'cause.

**nevermore199-** Hey, I've seen you around the site. Nice to meetcha. :) Thanks for the review... and they have buttons for bold and italic stuff? Seriously? o.O;; **kidsnextdoor112-** Bwaha, as I said earlier: I strive for cliff hangers. X3; It's a good sign for me that you like it. :3 hehe, thanks for the review. **raex18-** Aw, thank you. :D And about Raven and X... meh, I'll see what I can do. LoL **gracefulraven-** Thanks for the advice. It'll help if I find the B button first, I'm guessing. o.o; Hehe, I seriously have seen none of those buttons before. I am so out of it. Anyway, Slade can't be _too_ nice to Raven... but he might be a little nicer to her. / I'm not the best judge of my own characters. heh. **lolopixie-** Forced learning... that made me laugh. XD; And how come just about everyone else has seen these buttons? I just must not be very observant. x.x; Well, glad you liked. **ShadowDevil-** Dash button for the lines... I cracked up at that. And dang, you want Raven to turn evil, nevermore199 wants her to stay good... I can't please everybody! .x;; Eh, we'll just have to see where the story goes. (It's pretty bad when the author doesn't even know. X3;) **raven717-** Happy Birthday to you and your mom. :) How did they go? For my mom's b-day, I think we're just going out to a nice restaurant. She already bought herself a present. X3; LoL. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like iiiit. **Kendra Chetnova-** 4 was my favorite HP book, so this movie was also my favorite. :33 It may be the first I'll actually want to buy... if only for the lovely shots of Krum and his odd, single line in the movie. o.O; LoL. I'm glad you like the story... **faLLen-dreamz-** Okay, it's official: every other person on this site knows about those buttons. x.x; I'll really to need to find those next time I update. heh, thanks for the review. **Tritium-** Master's gonna be useless? Eh, in that you'll be disappointed... ëcause I wrote him as like the best fighter on the Hive team. LoL. And I love Gizmo. :3 I seem to have made his favorite word "slappin." heh. **VampireSelene-** Mostly A Beka... but I'm so happy I'm a senior this year. I always hated when my books arrived in the summer. So depressing. LoL. Thanks for the review.. glad you like. :) **psycicflower-** It's strange I find that so interesting. hehe. I always though the Irish spoke english... just with a different accent than Englanders. There's a whole nother language? So is every Irish person bilingual? This is all very fascinating to me. X3; I'm working on being bilingual... and it's hard. LoL. Well, glad you like the chapter and that it could serve as a distraction... I mean... "break." ****

Chapter 17

X's fingers flew across the keyboard in the farthest corner of the Mega Arcade's basement. He was staring diligently at the monitor and didn't even notice Aqualad walk up.

"What are you doing?" the long-haired boy asked curiously as he looked over the thief's shoulder.

"Hackin' into the Titans computer. I'm setting up a permanent link. Whatever info they bring up, whatever alerts come up, we'll see," explained X, not taking his concentration off the monitor.

"Aqualad tilted his head. "But then if we start accessing files on this end, won't they know?"

"Nope. Completely one way. They'll never find out."

"And just how will you set that up?"

"Secret of the trade," the thief replied briskly, tapping a key twice. The Titans screen showed on the monitor; plain because no one in Titans Tower was using the computer. 

"We're up," announced X. He walked over, Aqualad following, to Hotspot, who was also busy typing away on a computer.

Hotspot, anticipating a question, spoke up voluntarily. "Okay, after Blackfire said on the tape that she was headed for Monaco, I checked the Monacan air space. They had a strange air craft on their radar for a little bit yesterday, but it disappeared. Now that means she could've turned on the cloak, turned off the ship, crashed, or landed below the radar's scope."

"Where'd she disappear at?" Speedy questioned, leaning over in his seat to get a better look at Hotspot's monitor. The other boy pointed to a blip near the edge of the screen.

"It's right near the beach. But there were no reports of any other sightings and nothing on the news about it." Everyone was silent for awhile. Suddenly X spoke up.

"Could her ship be _in_ the water?"

Aqualad smiled at that. "I see my services are finally needed."

-

That evening Slade, Raven, and a handful of robots were outside the tower on the training course. For the first time Slade was testing the dark girl's powers.

Raven was used to the course; she had run through it countless times when the Titans had trained as a group. Since she was well familiar with everything she was up against, the man had her complete the track in a very short amount of time. At first Raven was nowhere near the expected time, but slowly she was shaving away seconds.

After an hour and a half of intensive training, the dark girl collapsed at the finish line. Her chest was heaving as she gasped for air and she was dripping with sweat. Her mind was exhausted for exerting her powers.

Slade left his post behind the course controlling station and walked over to the crumpled up girl. For awhile, all that could be heard was Raven's heavy breathing. Finally the man nudged Raven's arm with his boot to get her attention.

"What happened out there?" he demanded, staring down at her critically. With much effort, Raven turned to look at him.

"I... ran the... course... over and... over," the dark girl said between breaths.

"You were fine at the beginning, but at the end your powers waned." 

"Yeah, I was... _tired,"_ retorted Raven. It took her a moment to build up enough breath to stress the last word, and afterward she went back to panting for air. One hand was clutching a cramp in her lung.

"No, you were deliberately holding back. I want to know why," Slade responded quickly. The dark girl gave him a quizzical expression.

"Well, I have to... make sure I still have... some power to keep all my... emotions under control." The man sunk into a crouch next to her, tilting his head as he observed her.

"You mean, after all those years of meditation, you haven't honed your powers enough to suppress your emotions with the least amount of effort? Shouldn't it be second nature to you now?" Slade let a faint chuckle slip past his mask.

"What are you getting at?" Raven asked, eyes narrowing. The man gave a casual shrug of his good shoulder.

"Just what I had told you before: the Titans were a hindrance. And now that they're gone, the real progress can begin. What do you say, my dear? Will you try harder tomorrow?"

A sigh of relief escaped from Raven. Practice was over for the day. Slowly, dumbly, she nodded her head.

"Good," said Slade, standing up. He extended the hand of his good arm, his left arm, toward the collapsed girl. Raven's eyes widened at this unusual gesture of helpfulness, but she took his hand and let him pull her up.

"Get a better hold on your emotions with minimal power. I believe you did it once before," Slade said as he walked back toward the Tower entrance.

"I had help then. But it's not the kind of help I want again," retorted the dark girl, trying to keep his pace.

"However, there had to be some kind of good advice there. From such a powerful dragon, you had to have learned a trick or two."

Raven had long ago given up wondering how Slade knew so much. Anymore, statements like this didn't surprise her. The dark girl shrugged. "Maybe. But most of what he taught me I'll never use again."

"That depends," Slade spoke up quickly. Raven's head snapped around and she started at him with disbelief and defiance.

"On what?"

"Entirely on whether I tell you to or not."

-

The room had instantly quieted once the Master of Games appeared, and now everyone was watching. The large creature looked at all of them, too. Then his gaze landed on Gizmo.

"You," he said with a hint of familiarity. "Why have you brought me here?"

"For some fun, ape-man," sneered the Hiveling, turning to Jinx. "Gonna let these posers in on the plan?"

The pink haired girl solemnly stepped up onto the table and cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention. "All right, listen up. We've brought you all here today-"

"Saved your sorry little _butts_ is more like it," Gizmo added quickly, his arms folded across his chest and his mean little face screwed up in annoyance. Jinx continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"-to join our cause. We want to take the city out of the hands of Slade and his little yesman, Raven. The rest of the Titans are gone, and in their absence, Slade's taken over-"

"Crud-munching, dimwitted, pit-sniffing-"

"-and he _is_ a threat to us all! If we get him out of the way, there will be no one to stop us from doing whatever we wanted." A murmur rippled through the listeners.

The Master of Games, who was still standing on the transport, suddenly announced, "Why do you bother me with your trivial human affairs? I want nothing to do with your race-"

_"Zip it, furball!"_ shouted Gizmo, pointing a stubby finger at the creature. "Those Titans that got rid of you couldn't even get rid of this Slade chump! If you're so great, why not face off against him and see who wins?" As the Master considered, Jinx again addressed the crowd.

"He's got millions of soldiers. They might be slow and dumb, but when they gang up on you, you're in trouble. So, here's what we're going to do-"

"Wait a minute," Johnny interrupted, stepping forward. "You expect all'sus to take orders from three kids?" A mumble of agreement came from a few others.

"Yeah. And if you got a problem with that, you can leave," replied Mammoth. He stomped over and stood full height in front of Johnny, making him shrink back from the taller Hiveling.

"Keep in mind, hot shot, _we kids didn't get ourselves locked up in no stinkin' jail!"_ cried Gizmo, taking his place next to Mammoth.

"All right, all right!" Jinx shouted, stomping on the table with her boot to bring the attention back to herself. When many people still ignored her, she sent a chair hurtling at Johnny. It hit him, broke, and knocked him to the ground. "Okay," she continued in a dignified manner. "If you don't mind taking orders from three kids who broke you out of jail and have a finished plan for attacking Titans Tower, step forward." The two Hive boys folded their arms across their chests and looked expectantly at the group.

The room fell into silence. A few of the escapees were hanging back to see if anyone else volunteered. Just as Gizmo was about to spout some other scathing remark, Cinderblock and Plasmus stomped forward, barely missing stepping on Johnny, who was slowly staggering to his feet. 

Reluctantly, Dr. Light followed, making sure to inform everyone as loud as he could that it was only because he wanted to fight Raven.

Mumbo fingered the brim of his top hat. "Well, you see," he began slowly, casting a nervous glance at each of the hulking figures in the room. Compared to them, he looked as dwarfed as he felt. "I've already played my games with the Titans and... this just doesn't sound fun." He shrugged and waved. "Toodles," Mumbo said before spinning the hat between his hands, setting it on his head, and pulling the brim all the way down to his feet. He was totally encased in the stretched hat until it suddenly popped back to its normal size, empty. Mumbo was nowhere to be seen. Just as Johnny picked up the hat, it disappeared from his hand.

"That freak's got a good idea," the biker said, looking back at the Hive. "If I want Slade brought down, I'll go after ëim myself." Johnny turned and headed for the door, Gizmo sticking his tongue out after him. Then everyone's expectant gaze landed on the Master of Games.

Fearful he would leave too, Jinx quickly piped up. "If you follow us into battle, you don't exactly have to be under our command. Just get Slade." Her two teammates immediately looked at her, their faces choked with disbelief. Another tense moment followed.

"Agreed," the Master said at last. He stepped off the transporter for the first time. "However, this does not make us allies. Threaten me, and I will not hesitate to crush you." At that, Jinx's and Mammoth's gazes fell onto Gizmo.

"Whaaat?" the boy snapped, looking even more mean and impish than before.

-

The next morning, Raven dragged herself out of bed early before Slade sent any robots to confiscate her. When she sleepily stumbled into the living room, she found the man already there, intently watching the screen. The girl thought nothing of it until Slade called, "Is this a friend of yours?"

Raven set her newly retrieved tea cup on the kitchen counter and floated over to the couch, a quizzical expression on her face. On the screen was a replaying video of a strange bright boy who was watching the tower from far away. He repeatedly put a pair of binoculars to his eyes, then removed them to squint at the tower.

One of Ravens brows raised as she watched the stream replay.

"He's in your records." Slade said when the dark girl remained silent. "A certain Hotspot...?" The man's voice trailed off and he watched Raven to see if anything clicked.

"I've only heard of him," replied the girl truthfully. She watched the clip play again. "Is this all he did?"

"Luckily for him, it was."

Raven glanced up at him. "Feeling threatened?" The man stopped the replaying video, freezing it on a frame with a clear view of Hotspot.

"If he returns, I will," replied Slade. He turned his head to the dark girl. "And you'll take care of him."

Raven remained silent; she was lost in her thoughts. First Aqualad, now Hotspot. What was going on? She was fine with fighting her enemies... but her friends? Raven didn't want to turn on the Titans' allies. But then again, what were they doing swarming around the Tower all of a sudden?

"Eat. Regular training starts in an hour," Slade spoke up, breaking the girl's thoughts. Stifling a gasp, she looked at him with an acknowledging expression. Raven floated over to the kitchen and continued getting everything ready for her herbal tea.

Later that morning Slade commented on how quickly the dark girl was improving as they sparred. "If only you were this responsive with learning mechanics."

"Maybe you're just not as good a teacher on machinery," Raven said, ducking out of the way of the man's fist. With surprising speed, Slade's other fist swung around and nailed the side of her head with unusual force for his hurt arm. Again, the girl fell.

"That was uncalled for," mumbled Raven, holding her head. Her body was far too exhausted to allow her to get up.

"Nonsense. You were just unprepared. Expect anything. Be ready for everything. Now get up," retorted the man briskly. He moved his bandaged shoulder around as if it was sore while waiting for the girl to comply. With a weak grunt, Raven managed to pull herself into a sitting position.

She looked up at the distracted Slade. "I hope you didn't treat your wife like this." Immediately Slade's head snapped around; his stare bored into her.

"I thought I told you to forget about that," he said fiercely, with a tone that made Raven flinch. However, she held her chin higher, her face bearing an expression that wouldn't show intimidation.

"You had a reason for telling me." Slade vented a mocking snort, his gaze beginning to wander around the room.

"No, that's what you would call one of my rare accidents. There was no reason for that- you were never supposed to hear it," the man retorted, showing obvious disgust for his mistake.

"I think you wanted somebody to know," said Raven, tiredly staggering to her feet. "I also think that was the first sign of trust you've shown me."

"Well," Slade began after a long silence, "practice is over for today." The dark girl's eyebrows furrowed with annoyance. She watched as he headed for the entrance, and when he reached the doorway, Raven spoke up.

"What happened to her? Death or divorce?"

Slade stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around; he didn't even look over his shoulder. "That, apprentice, is none of your business." The man's fists were clenched and his neck stiffly bent. With caution, Raven floated closer to him, but stayed behind him.

"You know so much about me- I don't even know how much- but you don't want me to know anything about you?"

"That is as it should be," the man replied flatly before walking off down the hallway. Raven sighed, pulled her hood over her head and sunk through the floor.

-

Hotspot cheered victoriously as he earned a new high score on the dinosaur game. For the past hour he had been glued to the controls, not getting up even when Speedy returned with food. Now, they were the only two in the basement; Aqualad had left the previous day for Monaco and X had been gone scouting since early morning.

"Can you turn it down?" Speedy shouted over the noise of the game. Annoyed, Hotspot glanced over his shoulder to see the archer intently reading something on the computer linked with the Titans mainframe. The boy paused his game and headed to the corner computer, suddenly curious.

"Find something?"

"I've been checking on our friend X," Speedy replied, accessing another file.

Hotspot dropped into the chair next to him. "You're never gonna trust him, are you?"

The archer snorted, looking at his teammate. "I have no reason to trust him now. He's a thief. And well-known by the police. They just can't catch him." The fiery boy's eyes widened and he quickly leaned over in his seat to read the monitor.

"I _knew_ he was no good," Speedy growled. "He's up to something. Why help the Titans if there's nothing in it for him?" He folded his arms across his chest and glared off into space.

Once Hotspot finished reading the screen, he leaned back with a low whistle. "Maybe he's turned over a new leaf or something." At that the archer jumped up, his hands flying over his head.

"No! This is a bad guy! We're helping a guy who should be in jail!"

"Helping him find the Titans," Hotspot quickly noted.

"He's a thief! He was never a friend of the Titans; he was their _enemy!"_

"He's being friendly now by trying to rescue them. And if there was something in it for him, why would he have us help him? It would've been easier to just do everything himself and get whatever reward he was after."

Speedy grabbed his short hair as he paced around the room and gave a frustrated growl. "Stop defending him! He doesn't deserve it!"

During the silence that followed, a mechanical voice spoke up, "Ooh, lunch... nice." Both boys' heads snapped around to see X at the bottom of the staircase, his eyes fixed on the two bags of fast food on a table in the middle of the room.

"How long have you been there?" Hotspot asked quickly, rising to his feet. The thief shrugged as he rummaged through a bag.

"I dunno. A little while. I didn't want to interrupt." The other two boys exchanged glances but listened as X continued. "If you really wanna know what's in it for me, I guess there's one thing: I want to get that jerk Slade out of the tower and out of the city. If you can't stand to work with a thief, you're welcome to leave. But I plan to stick it out to the end. Ooh, taco..."

"Why didn't you ever tell us your... occupation?" demanded Speedy, one hand resting threateningly on his bow. X gave another shrug as he began to explore the second bag. "You never asked."

--  
**Next chapter:** Dec. 12.

...fa la la la la, la la la laaa. :)

Thank you to all those who told me how to make that section-breaking line. But seeing as how I'm against sudden change, I'm not going to be using it in this story. X3; Stories to come, however, will have that lovely line. LoL.

And dang, the site deleted all my hits again. For awhile the stats part didn't show either of the stories at all... and when they finally came back, the hits counter for both was depleted again. :( Does anyone know why this is happening? Site rennovations or something?


	19. Raven's New Trick

**a.n.** **Artemis-** Thank you very much. Glad you like it. :) **ShadowDevil-** I dunno, I kinda like Raven waffling back and forth... I haven't really decided myself where she's gonna turn. X3; I should probably make up my mind soon... LoL. Thanks for the review. **faLLen-dreamz-** hehe... I never check the front page. Wow, they're always making changes. o.O; Anyway, yes... kinda hard for Hotspot to be sneaky when he's so bright. LoL. Poor guy. Oh well. He's one of my favorite guys in here... I've never read the comics, so hopefully I'm not screwing up his character. **Moon's Darkness-** So that's two votes for Raven to turn evil, one vote for her to stay good. ...not that I'm keeping... score... or anything. -cough- hehe, glad you like it. And even if she doesn't turn evil (not that she won't), I ask you to give me a half hour head start before you come after me with a pitchfork or anything. :) Thank you in advance. **lolopixie-** LoL! I dunno why but I make X a really hungry guy. He was always checking out the Titan's fridge and everything... and really, tacos are awesome. If it weren't for Taco Bell, we might not have the spork today as we know it. That's the best thing in the world next to duct tape. Okay anyway... yes, I pretend to know looots of things in my writing. XD; Just as long as the people who really know the stuff I talk about don't read this, I should be safe. LoL. Thanks for the review and I'm really glad you've been into the story so far. I actually thought 17 was another slightly boring chapter. o.O; But then again, I have a reaaaally short attention span. Shorter than Beast Boy's. It's ridiculous.. **Tritium-** LoL, I just don't want too many characters than I know what to do with. I think I told someone else a few chapters back that if there's too many people in the story, it just starts messing with the fire safety hazard things... 'no more than 20 occupants to a story' or something... yeah. :) Glad you like it so far... and maybe this chapter will brighten your Dec . 12th. LoL. Good luck on your exam. **gracefulraven-** I don't think I've ever told you, but I really like your s/n. :) Hehe, anyway... ooh, so no more renovations? Good. x.x; I'm tired of the numbers being depleted. Thanks for the review and I'll be sure to check out your story. **VampireSelene-** Eep... Titans East -eye twitch- NEVER! No, I never liked T.E. Speedy and Aqualad are all of T.E. you'll see in here. For the most part, Raven's on her own. **psycicflower-** Wow. o.o; Ireland's last few hundred years compacted into 5 minutes. LoL. Yeah, don't learn too much about other countries' histories over here. I kinda knew about the potato famine 'cause that's when tons of Irish came to America. They didn't have a much better time here for awhile. o.O; Anyway, was McGillian the only one from Stargate there? His accent changed... hehe. Well, glad you liked the chapter. Everyone seems to like X a little more than Raven... the center of the story is losing her fan support. X3; Oh well, she can hack it. LoL. Hope you'll like this one as well. **Aietradaea-** ...still wondering how to pronounce that... LoL. I was wondering what happened to you. Glad you still like it and thanks for the review. :) **Lai-Ku-** Well, at least you're still reading... and I'm excited you still like it. If I can keep your attention, then I must be doing something right. 3****

Chapter 18

Over the next few days, Raven excelled in her combat training, both with and without powers. She even managed to complete the maimed robot; with Slade's careful supervision, of course. Suppressing her emotions with less power was challenging, and the dark girl thought she made no progress in that area. However, she had to admit, her meditations were better without the Titans.

During one of the mechanics classes, Raven stopped right in the middle of welding shut a gash on a guard's arm. She lifted the welding mask and looked up at Slade. The robot, still alert during this minor surgery, also looked in that direction.

"You know, I've been thinking. Against the Hive, these robots were pretty useless. They might stand a better chance with some extra weapons or armor," suggested Raven. When the man didn't reply, her helpful expression flopped.

"What do you have in mind?" Slade questioned after a long silence.

"Well, we could upgrade them with weapons and stuff from Cyborg's blueprints." When she couldn't guess Slade's reaction, the girl added a one-shouldered shrug. "Just a thought." Raven pulled down the welding mask and returned to her job of fixing the gashed arm.

"An interesting idea," the man said at last. "However, you will be responsible for upgrading your own robots." Raven stopped welding and again lifted the mask. Underneath was a face with a look of mingled disbelief and desperation.

"It's taken me three days or more just to reassemble one robot- and now I have to work on _them?_ That'll take forever!" The guard looked from one to the other as they spoke, then turned back to Slade.

"Actually, my dear, twenty. And you can make your soldiers work and repair other robots for you. How else do you suppose I keep a standing army?" 

Raven, though, wasn't listening. She had zoned out the moment she heard "twenty." Slade had entrusted her with ten more robots- almost like having a squadron under her control. Surprising to the girl, it felt good to gain more power.

Raven quickly finished welding the gash shut and began inspecting her work, while the guard looked around her head at his arm. Slade was on the other side of the table, leaning on his hands, also scrutinizing the job. The dark girl's eyes flicked over to Slade and she stared at him for the longest time, although he didn't seem to notice.

Finally, she seemed to have built up enough courage to ask, "Do you have any kids?" Instantly, Slade's fist pounded on the table, startling both the girl and the droid. 

"When are you ever going to _let this go?"_ he barked with a fierceness that took Raven by surprise. When she looked too horrified to answer, the man added with the same fervor, "My wife divorced me years ago after a family dispute and I haven't heard from her since. I don't _want_ to know where she is and I don't _care_ to know where she is. That part of my life is behind me and I would _like_ it if you didn't keep _bringing it up_ almost daily! As for children, that is one thing you will _never_ know, so don't you _dare_ question me about it again! _Is that enough information for you?_" Raven nodded dumbly, eyes wide. With one final glare at the robot, Slade turned and marched determinedly from the room.

-

Over the past few days, the Hive and their new recruits perfected their plan of assault on the tower. With each new day, Gizmo would announce it was the opportune time to attack Slade, only to be shot down by Jinx. Finally the boy gave up altogether and instead sat off by himself during their conferences, grumbling to himself.

After one conference, he got up and waddled over to his teammates, pushing between Dr. Light and Cinderblock. "Are these numbskulls ready _yet_?" he cried.

"Of course they're ready," scoffed Jinx, glancing around quickly to make sure no one else was in hearing range. "We're just trying to drive the plan into their heads so much that when we finally _do_ attack, there'll be a less chance they'll compromise us."

"Can't trust any of 'em," Mammoth added with a critical look at the Master of Games.

Jinx sniffed. "They probably think the same about us. But just as long as they follow our orders, defeating Slade and his little girlfriend should be a cinch." She folded her arms across her chest and looked expectantly at her teammates, as if ready for one of them to object.

"Cinderblock and Plasmus are too stupid to do anything _but_ follow our orders. That idiot Dr. Light just wants to get back at Raven, so who cares about him... But Mog can't be trusted. Stupid, monkey-brained, fluffy little..."

"Mog?" questioned Mammoth.

"Yeah, Master-of-Games: Mog," Gizmo replied with his hands moving from right to left with each word. "Get it? Stay with me here. Geez, stupidity must be contagious 'cause-"

"Knock it off," Jinx ordered quickly with a tone of authority. Mumbling, the boy obeyed.

-

Over the past few days, X's group carried on as before, though now Speedy was constantly suspicious of the thief. Aqualad, while taking a break in the Atlantic Ocean to contact the tower, had been informed of X's occupation and instantly sided with Speedy. Hotspot, however, took an objective perspective. He wasn't siding with anyone, and for that he became something of a mediator.

A couple of hours earlier, Aqualad had contacted the hideout again to inform his teammates that he had reached the Mediterranean Sea and was hitching a ride on one of the local sea animals and would be near Monaco soon. Ever since then, the three guys had hung around near the monitors. They didn't venture out even for food.

Hotspot checked a clock above one game machine. "Man, how long does it take him to get to that country? It's, what, by Spain?"

"Base of France, next to Italy, right on the water," X replied quickly. He was checking through the Titans files to find if anything new had occurred. Already they knew files of Hotspot had been accessed, so anymore he wasn't allowed to scout the tower.

"Still..." mumbled the fiery boy.

"I guess it all depends on what he's riding on. Apparently, he isn't blazing trails through the water on the resident goldfish," X added.

"Aqualad knows what he's doing," Speedy shot back, glaring at the thief.

"Never said he didn't."

Hotspot was about to jump in, fearing he'd have to prevent a fist fight, but luckily the argument subsided when Speedy wisely didn't retort. The room fell into silence once again with the occasional spurts of typing almost echoing in the basement.

Awhile later, all three guys were startled by the noise of an incoming transmission. Aqualad appeared on the middle monitor and the others quickly crowded around it. They could see their friend was surrounded by water still, bobbing with the shallow waves. Sea gulls could be heard shrieking in the background.

"Okay, I'm here. Land's in sight," Aqualad panted with great effort, obvious exhaustion slipping into his voice. "Do you have Blackfire's ship pinpointed yet?"

"No, we were hoping she would've contacted the tower so we could get a lock on her. No such luck yet," replied X with a glance back to the corner monitor.

Aqualad blinked, fighting to rid his expression of weariness and maintain some sort of clearheadedness. However, his disappointment was apparent when he spoke. "Okay. I guess I can ask around," the long haired boy sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose before shaking his head and looking off toward the coast, which his teammates could not see. "I don't wanna get too close to the shore in case the ship is checking for any of us..."

"No, man, you should get some rest. We'll find Blackfire," Hotspot spoke up.

"Yeah," agreed Speedy, "you just swam halfway around the world. Take a break. I'm sure our friend has something up his sleeve still." With an expression bordering mocking, the archer looked at X. The thief vented something his teammates couldn't catch but otherwise remained quiet. 

"A break sounds good to me," Aqualad said, pleasantly nodding with drooping eyes. "Call me when you get something." The link terminated but the three remained where they were, staring at the dark monitor.

"So..." said Hotspot after a long silence, looking from one teammate to the other, "what've we got?"

-

Raven was almost late to her afternoon practice outside because she had been preoccupied with her small squadron of robots. She had been upgrading them with spare Cyborg parts, then having them install the parts on each other. As she flew out to the obstacle course, her guards were still working.

On the obstacle course, many of Slade's robots already had patches of the familiar blue skin. Their arms from their elbows down had Cyborg's armor and installations, as well as their legs from the knees down. Their chests were covered in an extra, short breastplate. And on their faces, replacing the red spot, was a Cyborg blue. The soldiers looked much more impressive and much tougher.

Raven smirked as she landed. Slade had actually listened to her. And she couldn't wait to see the Hive's faces if they attacked again. 

"Ready?" Slade's voice called from near the base of the tower. The dark girl spread her arms, pushing her cape behind her shoulders, and stood ready to run through the course. 

"It'll be a bit different today," said the man. Raven immediately straightened, her head snapping around.

"Different? How?" she questioned cautiously.

"For this session, you will be fighting the robots." A flinch of confusion crossed Raven's face as she glanced at the many soldiers scattered around. Before she could object, Slade shouted, "Begin!"

At that, six guards rushed toward her, their right hands melting into arm cannons. Raven quickly put up a shadow barrier that enveloped her and deflected all the weapon fire. As she hid in her little dome, the dark girl raced to come up with a strategy. She didn't want to hurt the robots too much- she might be the one who'd have to repair them.

When the shield was taxing too much power to stand against the barrage of lasers, Raven sunk through the ground. She surfaced behind the robots and covered them in darkness from the shoulders down, which pinned their arms to their sides. Suddenly a laser shot burned a hole in her flapping cape and the dark girl realized more guards on the sidelines were joining in. She summoned another dark shield, buying time to figure out what she was going to do.

How was she going to stop them all? Raven could just send dozens of piercing black rays all over to slice through the droids, but that would leave such a mess. And the dark girl had strangely developed a liking for the robots. There had to be a way that she could incapacitate them without destroying them. But how?

The girl groaned under the stress. Keeping six struggling robots tied up while blocking Cyborg-enhanced firepower took a great deal of energy- energy Raven was realizing she didn't have much more of. Still restraining her first attackers, the girl discarded her barrier and flew up into the afternoon sky. She figured the setting sun might hide her by blinding the soldiers as they searched for her. Immediately two robots took off after her, flying almost in a random pattern around the tower. A minute later, those two soldiers dropped back to the ground, their bodies bound in shadow.

"Come on, Raven. _Defeat_ them, don't just restrain them," Slade called, impatiently looking for her.

"Defeat them without destroying them?" questioned the dark girl from above. She was carefully watching the remaining upgraded guards, about ten in number, who were all searching for her, their arm cannons following their gazes.

Slade folded his arms across his chest. "So that's what you're doing, is it? Humanitarian, to be sure, but totally unnecessary. And a strategic waste of time."

Raven ignored him; she was still planning. She was all too aware that if she didn't act soon, too much of her power would be drained by holding the eight guards captive. The subtle yet constant throbbing in the section of her mind that controlled her powers reminded her of that frequently.

The dark girl's mind raced: defeat without destruction. She would have to overpower the robots- all of them- enough to shut them down. Maybe... maybe just hitting them with enough _force_ would work. But to try that, she would need all her powers.

The eight soldiers were suddenly released as Raven dropped through the sky, her familiar chant already in progress. She landed on the word "Zinthos!" in the middle of the obstacle course, in the mob of robots.

It sounded almost like a small sonic boom as a wall of darkness radiated from Raven from all sides. All the robots were thrown forcefully back; even the tower shuddered from the power of the dark girl's attack.

Slade, too, although a good distance from the field, found himself knocked off his feet. A slight aftershock that followed prevented him from getting up and left him with a throbbing in his head. The man staggered to his feet and slowly looked around. All the robots were down- even the ones on the sidelines that hadn't been fighting- and Raven was lying in the middle of the course. As he neared her, the man found she wasn't unconscious, but close to it.

The girl gave a pathetic moan upon seeing him. "That was a bad idea." She didn't even attempt to get up. Slade crouched next to her.

"Since when could you do something like that?"

"Just now, I guess."

"A powerful move indeed. Do you think you'll be able to do it again?"

Raven looked up at him with a hurt expression. "Oh, yeah, I should be able to pop right up and give an encore performance. Don't mind the fact that I'm completely spent _and_ I have a massive headache," she spat darkly. 

"Women," muttered Slade with a role of his eye. The girl, with much strain, managed to form small, dark orbs around her fists. They were much less intimidating than she had hoped. 

Slade clasped a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Raven. You're bordering emotional." The man was firm, but fighting back condescension.

"What do you care?" growled Raven weakly. Her eyelids fluttered repeatedly, as if she was somewhere between conscious and unconsciousness, fighting to stay awake.

Slade's grip tightened. "Of course I care for your well being-"

"What about Terra? And Robin? You didn't _care_ about them! You only cared as long as they did what you wanted," the girl hissed with as much ferocity as she could muster. "And when they failed or disobeyed, you didn't _hesitate_ to turn on them."

"Save your strength, Raven," advised the man in a slow manner, "you're wasting your energy yelling at me. And, my dear, you are very different from Terra and Robin."

Raven wanted to retort somehow, but she was much too weak. She had never used so much power in an attack before, and now there was barely enough energy left to suppress her emotions. The dark girl needed to regain her strength somehow, but she felt as if meditating would take too much effort. Her body just wanted to sleep, but her mind wanted to keep arguing.

"Why?" Raven asked in a voice no louder than a whisper. Her eyelids drooped again. "What makes me different?"

Slade observed her for a moment, then replied, "I think you're just mad I snapped at you earlier. That's what all this fuss is about." The man let go of her shoulder and slipped his arms under her back and knees. 

The girl's vision blurred; the background dimmed and the shadows grew. Her body ached- she was so tired. But she fought to stay awake. "You... you didn't answer my question." The last thing Raven recalled before completely blacking out was being slowly lifted up.

-

X got up from the corner monitor, stretched, and crossed the room to Speedy and Hotspot, who were racing each other on a two-player arcade machine. There had been no contact with Aqualad since he had arrived in Monacan waters, so the guys had found ways to preoccupy themselves.

Soon a string of triumphant sounds came from the game and Hotspot began dancing around, accompanied by an "in your face!" every once in awhile. When Speedy turned to go to another game, his head jerked back upon seeing X standing so close.

"I have a job for you," the thief informed him flatly.

Speedy arched a brow. "I'm not mugging anyone." Instantly Hotspot stopped crowing and stared wide-eyed at the other two.

"No... I can do that myself. I want you to go to the tower and try to talk some sense into Raven," replied X. "Hotspot can't get anywhere near that fortress, and I think if Raven saw me again, she'd try to kill me."

A smirk played on Speedy's features. "You must be used to that kind of reaction from the ladies by now." Hotspot flinched at that, expecting any range of reactions from X, most of which called for the fiery boy's intervention.

The thief's eyes narrowed. "I hope you're as good at convincing Raven as you are at making insults." Speedy gave a quick salute with two fingers then made for the stairs, grabbing his bow on the way out.

-

Raven was so exhausted that she slept through the rest of the day and only woke with the sun the next morning. Even though the drawn shade cast many shadows in her room, the girl could clearly make out a figure huddled in the corner. Quickly her fists were shrouded in darkness. Even quicker than that, a wave a nausea crashed over her and Raven let the darkness vanish. She flopped back onto her pillow with a pitiful moan. It was dangerous to use her powers now, but Raven was hoping that would soon pass because she figured Slade would have many tests set up for her that day.

The figure in the shadows suddenly became alert, startled awake. Slowly it crawled toward her, constantly searching the room as if it would spot security cameras or motion sensors. A masked head soon popped up next to Raven's bed.

"Hey there."

"Who are you?" the dark girl asked, sitting up. Her eyes, clouded with wariness, watched him carefully, trying to see through him and determine the intruder's intentions.

"We've never met, but I'm a friend of Robin's. I'm Speedy," the boy replied as he stood up and extended a hand. Cautiously Raven shook it. 

Looking around, she asked, "How did you get in here?"

"Through the window," smiled Speedy, pointing over his shoulder. Somehow, that didn't surprise the girl anymore.

"Why are you here?"

The archer gave a quick shrug. "Oh, just to stop in, say hi, see why you're working for Slade." Raven's eyes narrowed.

"I do not _work_ for Slade. This isn't some kind of employment."

"Yeah, but when he tells you to fight, you fight; when he tells you to stop, you stop; when he tells you to fly, you ask 'how far.'"

"Where exactly have you gotten this information?"

Speedy smirked at that. "I've heard several people's accounts, I've seen it for myself... I think I'm pretty well informed. I'm also well informed on another subject."

Raven arched an eyebrow, patiently remaining silent.

"I know why your friends aren't here, and I think it's for a different reason than you might think." At that the girl's eyes narrowed again.

"Is that what this is about? You sound like X. He sent you, didn't he?" she demanded with a cold. unreadable expression.

"We're just trying to help, Raven, really. I-"

"X sent you, _didn't he_?"

"...Yes," Speedy confessed in a low voice. "He just wants you to find out the truth- we all want what's best for you."

"Who's 'we'?" questioned Raven quickly, staring even more critically at the boy. He hesitated.

"Just a few of us," Speedy said at length. "Those who know the Titans _and_ what really happened to them. But what we would like to know is why you're so quick to trust Slade."

To the boy's surprise, Raven was replying almost before he got his question out, "Because _he_ trusts _me_." While Speedy was groping around for more questions, the dark girl pointed toward her window, a resolute look on her face. "If that's all, I suggest you leave." Her tone, however, was unmistakably an order, and Speedy had no choice but to comply. Slowly, he retreated toward the window.

"You know," he began upon reaching the sill, "for your sake, I really hope Slade is as good to you as you seem to think he is."

Raven tilted her head in consideration as Speedy left her room. What was going on? X, Speedy, Hotspot... were they all in this together? And why did they care so much for the Titans? _She_ didn't anymore.

**--  
Next Update:** December 19th. Christmas next Sunday. Wow. Merry Christmas:D

As I was writing this, I was wondering if I made Raven take too long in coming up with that new attack... or if she was kinda weak this time. /

And... hehehe... I dunno why, but that "resident goldfish" thing is just so funny to me... Are there even golfish in the Mediterranean? LoL, I doubt it.


	20. Raven vs Cinderblock

**a.n. **Ha! I just noticed... the 19th on the 19th! XD;; I couldn't have planned that even if I had tried. ...does that make sense?****

TGrahlv- ...wow, you could fit that whole thing into the name slot? o.O; hehe, anyway, thanks for the review. Tell Slade I appreciate it. :) LoL. **faLLen-dreamz-** So... 2 want Raven to stay good, 2 want her to turn evil... (hem... still not keeping score or anything...) Oh, but I wanted Speedy to leave 'cause I want Raven to stay away from the Titans. :( But strangely, even in my stories I sometimes don't get what I want. Go figure. Glad you're so into the story, though. :D **Lai-Ku-** Seriously, is your name Chinese or something? Anyway, of course it's taking X awhile... I mean, Aqualad had to swim all the way from Cali (I think the tower is off the coast of California...) ALL the way to Monaco. On the other side of the world. Give the guy some credit that he could swim that far so fast. LoL. P.S. No. P.P.S. Right now, I'm looking at chap. 25... but considering me, who can almost never finish a story, it may be more. There may also be epilogues and alternative endings. X33;; The possibilities are endless! P.P.P.S. I am! Read, read:D **Kendra Chetnova-** Thanks for the info. Eh, if anything Aqualad would hitch a ride on a shark or dolphin or whatever big thing actually swims in that sea. Me! ...heh, j/k. I'm not the greatest swimmer, anyway... Thanks for the review. Are all your voices happy with the story, too:) **Tritium-** Why can't we have an early Christmas, goshdarnit? And a late one in January, too! I'm up for more presents. X3; Hehe, X's group is trying...but it's not like they have the best leader. LoL. And it won't be extra titans v. Raven... it'll be Raven v. every other single person on the battlefield. :3 **lolopixie-** Thanks for the review. Not only are the robots more powerful, they're prettier, too. XD; Hope you like this chapter as well. **VampireSelene-** Thank you so much. :D Hopefully I can continue that trend, LoL. **psycicflower-** Wow, that's weird. And completely suck-ish. :( Well, at least you'll have two chapters to read at once... if that's a good thing. LoL. ****

Chapter 19

"Aren't they ready _yet?"_ cried Gizmo, waving his hands over his head. He was standing on the table to be eye-level with Jinx.

"Aren't you going to stop asking that?" the girl replied coldly. The three Hive members had met together privately in what Gizmo deemed an "emergency meeting."

"Time's getting short, fluff girl. Slade's been hiding in that stupid tower for Mog knows how long- and _that's_ not a good sign. Believe me. That mongoose is up to something," the little inventor said dramatically with a foreboding look at both his teammates.

"I guess you've finally run out of names to call people," smirked Jinx.

"He's right. Slade's probably up to something. It might be better for us if we knew what that was before charging into battle," argued Mammoth, shrugging with his arms folded across his chest. The girl leaned on her hand on the table, critically inspecting both the guys.

"Fine," she said at length. "Have a plan?"

Gizmo's face broke into a hideous grin, causing his features to look even scarier than normal. "Send someone to draw out Slade's idiot forces. If he doesn't come out with no new weapons, we probably won't have anything to worry about from that geezer."

Jinx looked unconvinced. "Who do we send?"

"Cinderblock, Plasmus," shrugged the boy, "either of those mindless oafs should do it." The pink haired girl looked to Mammoth, who nodded in agreement.

"Okay," sighed Jinx in a defeated sort of way, "what do we tell whoever's being sent?"

"That they're going into town to draw out Slade's idiot army," Gizmo replied in a mocking manner, as if he were explaining something to a child. "Jeez- that's why I said pick one of the _mindless_ ones. They'll slappin' do whatever you say."

-

Raven fastened her cape with her brooch as she entered the living room. A couple of upgraded robots were fiddling with the computer, but other than that the room was empty. The dark girl walked over to the large screen.

"Leave," she commanded the soldiers. Even though they weren't hers, they stopped typing immediately and slouched out of the room.

Raven quickly glanced around the room. Her fingers flew across the keys as she brought up Titans Allies files. Just as she began to read about Speedy, alarms rang throughout the tower. Quickly the girl cleared the screen of all documents and allowed the familiar map to pop up, along with the inset picture and locating dot.

"Cinderblock?" she asked herself, a bewildered expression plastered on her face. Her attention was caught by the side doors opening, admitting Slade and a couple of upgraded guards.

"What is it?" questioned the man as he neared her.  
Raven motioned to the screen and the incoming footage of Cinderblock stomping down a busy street, scattering cars and people. "It's... weird," was all the girl said. After a short pause, she asked, "So, how many soldiers do you think it'll take?"

"None," Slade replied, looking down at her. "You're going." 

"Me?" Her surprise was not only evident in her tone but also on her face.

"Yes. Hurry, you don't want him to destroy anything else, do you?" The dark girl eyed him suspiciously, but then ran out of the room.

Slade's gaze returned to the screen. "What are you up to, Cinderblock?" the man said quietly, his eye narrowing. "Who's pulling your strings?" On a sudden hunch, he looked up the records of the recent jail breakouts and traced all the escapees' paths. As he had guessed, they all ended in one spot outside of town. Also not surprising, that was exactly where Cinderblock had come from.

"Well," Slade mumbled to himself, _"something's _certainly afoot."

-

"Hey, check this out," called Hotspot, looking at one of the wall monitors. He had been recently kicked out of the fight that ensued when Speedy returned unsuccessful. Since then he had just watched on the sidelines as X and Speedy snapped at each other.

"There's reports of some major wrecking going on downtown," Hotspot related from the screen. He looked back and let a sigh of relief escape upon seeing the guys had stopped squabbling. X darted over to the corner monitor and began typing in codes. Through the Titans computer, he could see the video stream.

"Cinderblock," the thief said, reading a small profile next to the inset picture. Looking back to the video footage, X suddenly shouted, "And _Raven?"_ The other two boys crowded around him.

"Helping him?" Hotspot cried in disbelief, hovering over the thief's shoulder. X shook his head.

"No, confronting him. With Slade holding her leash, I never expected her to be... acting like a Titan."

"So what do we do? We should help her," Speedy said, breaking away from the group and picking up his bow. 

X's head jerked around to face the archer and he snapped, "No! Don't!"

"You're not serious. If we help Raven, she might see that she can trust us-"

"No. We could also get her in trouble with Slade, and for that she might never trust any of us," X argued. When Speedy didn't reply, the thief returned to watching the monitor.

Suddenly the screen next to it flashed on with a picture of Aqualad. This time, the shore could be seen in the background. "Hey guys, good news. I found the ship!" Instantly the two boys slid from in front of the Titans monitor to Aqualad's.

"You did? Blackfire's ship? You're sure?" X demanded quickly, almost excitedly. 

"Yeah..." said Aqualad, slowly and sarcastically. "How many ships that can handle deep-space flight would there be hiding in the sea?"

Hotspot chuckled. "Can you get in? Is Blackfire around?"

"I don't know where she is, but I'm definitely picking up the Titans' communicator signals from inside." A long pause followed.

"Okay, how about this," X spoke up at last, his tone ringing with the utmost seriousness. It made the other two stop and listen with grave expressions. "I'll go through the logs where Blackfire contacted the Titans, get her ship code and call her. If she doesn't respond, you'll be bale to go in." Just because of the gravity with which X explained it, it made the other boys think it was a good, well thought out plan.

"And what if she's there?" Hotspot asked, tilting his head as he looked to the thief.

"I'll... I'll think of something."

"Okay. I'll wait for you to call me back. I'm going to search for a way to get into the ship," said Aqualad. The screen returned to black and the boys' attention shifted back to the corner monitor.

"What do you think of all of this, Speedy?" Hotspot called over his shoulder. His gaze was fixed on the Titans screen, but when he never got a reply, he turned and gave the room a quick search. "Speedy?" At that, X looked, too.

"He didn't..." Quickly he brought up a window which tracked nearby Titans communicators. It showed one dot moving quickly toward Cinderblock.

"He did," sighed the fiery boy, rubbing the back of his neck. "Should I try to bring him back?"

"No," growled X with an irritated pound of his fist to the keyboard panel. "Right now, our biggest priority is Blackfire."

-

The three Hivelings stood atop their home warehouse, watching the city through Gizmo's newly in vented, incredibly powerful telescope. With it, they could see Cinderblock as clearly as if they were standing right next to him.

"No sign of Slade or his minions," reported Jinx smugly. However, a scowl soon grew on her features. "But Raven's there. Please. Does she _really_ think she can take him on her own?"

"Y'mean she's got no cruddy back up?" whined Gizmo. "C'mon! I want to know what that idiot's been up to!"

Mammoth looked through the telescope after Jinx. "Maybe," he said, straightening, "_she's_ what he's been up to."

Gizmo gave a guttural scoff as he folded his arms across his chest. "Raven? No way. He wouldn't waste his slappin' time."

-

Raven hovered at eye level with Cinderblock, a block away from him. Her brow was knitted in confusion as she observed him; he was just standing there- as he had been since the moment she had appeared. Cautiously, the dark girl looked around, expecting some kind of an accomplice to attack her. ...Was this it?

"Get rid of him," Slade's voice hissed through the little communicator in her ear. The dark girl flew forward a couple of feet.

"Leave, Cinderblock!" ordered Raven forcefully, pointing back the way he had come.

"Hardly what I meant," came the impatient reply in her ear.

Cinderblock looked around the area, as if also expecting something more than Raven. When he realized she was it, he gave a challenging growl before lunging at her, the ground shaking with each step. As he neared the girl, he reached out to grab her, but she ducked under his massive hand. 

Flying behind him, Raven picked up a smashed car with her powers and slammed it into Cinderblock's back. It appeared more damage had been done to the car. More pieces fell from it and it had been bent in the shape of the rock giant's back. The dark girl dropped the vehicle.

"Stop playing with him," Slade ordered.

Cinderblock turned to face the girl, eyes narrowed. One of his hands shot out again, and when Raven dodged, his other hand came out of nowhere and caught her cape. Without giving the dark girl time to react, Cinderblock swung her around and knocked her into a nearby building.

Raven struggled in vain to wrench her cape from his grasp. When she gave up, she noticed she was hurtling toward the building wall again. Quickly, weakly, she encased herself in shadow. The force was too much for her to handle, though, and the barrier dissipated upon impact, leaving a bubble-shaped dent in the side of the building.

"What are you _doing?_ Fight!" the order rang in her ear.

Finally Raven found the brooch and unclasped her cape. She dropped to the ground and limped out of Cinderblock's way as swiftly as she could. Hiding in the shadow of a nearby building, she caught her breath. 

"When this happened before," she said quietly, touching the communicator, "someone would be there to distract the guy. I've got no one now."

"This is why I told you you needed to learn to _fend for yourself._ Now get out there and get _rid_ of him!"

Raven flinched at his outburst. _This_ was the side of Slade she had been expecting for a long time; his true side.

A growl from Cinderblock brought the dark girl's thoughts back to reality. He had seen her and was now marching straight for her. Hands enveloped in darkness, Raven flew up and began circling the stone monolith, pelting him with shadow rays. Her reflexes weren't up to par for she was still slightly dazed from the earlier bashing. So by the time she saw Cinderblock's fist shooting her way, she couldn't do anything to stop it or flee. It hit her and sent her ramming into the wall of the nearest building. The dark girl dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Cinderblock stomped forward. Just as he raised a massive foot to come down on her body, three projectiles hit his side, exploding on impact, and knocking him off balance. He staggered to the side, narrowly missing Raven. He looked over to see a boy run over to the dark girl and shake her.

Raven's eyes opened to the sight of Speedy bending over her. He looked apprehensively from the enemy back to the girl. "Hey, you okay?"

Slowly, carefully, Raven stood up with the help of the archer. A grimace of pain flinched across her face. "I've been better. What are you doing here?" Speedy whipped three more arrows out and aimed them at the advancing Cinderblock.

"Oh, y'know, I was in the neighborhood and all. Thought you needed a hand." He pulled back on the string. The ground shook even more as the enemy, almost jogging now, neared.

_"What's going on?"_ Slade shouted, his tone bordering hysterical. "_You_ are supposed to get rid of him! Have all those lessons _been for_ _nothing?"_

Raven's eyes grew white, her face no longer betraying pain. Instead, her features were firmly set with determination. She laid a hand on Speedy's shoulder breaking his concentration.

"He's mine." With that, Raven took a second to summon her powers, then jumped into the air, lunging for Cinderblock. The sound of pavement cracking filled the air. Speedy whirled around to see the two nearest street lamps being wrenched right out of the ground, covered in blackness. Their curved necks straightened and they took on the appearance of javelins. Turning on their sides, they bolted after Raven.

The dark girl flew right toward Cinderblock, feeling all her energy and power flow through her to her fist. Right when she reached the stone enemy, she punched him in the jaw as forcefully as she could. That alone knocked him off balance. The strong shadow beam that shot out of her hand afterward knocked him a couple of yards back. The two street lights that drove into his chest moments later slid him down the street, knocking up pavement and other debris. After the smoke had finally cleared, Cinderblock was found motionless in the middle of the road.

Raven smiled to herself. At last no more orders were being jammed into her ear. Even Speedy was surprised, as apparent by his slack jaw.

-

The three Hivelings were all crowded around the telescope, trying to peer through the lens simultaneously.

_"What?"_ squawked Gizmo, reeling back. His teammates took the opportunity of his absence at the telescope to crowd closer together.

"Since when can a cruddy Titan K.O. an idiot like Cinderblock _single-stinkin'-handedly?"_ squealed the little inventor.

"She had help," Jinx corrected quickly. "One of the Titan's friends... ooh, he's cute."

"But _she's_ the one who beat up our guy," said Mammoth, pushing Jinx out of the way so he could get a better look.

"I don't like this," snapped Gizmo. His expression was impish again. "I say we attack tomorrow. Let's not give that crud-munching idiot any more time to slappin' prepare _anything._"

Jinx wrenched the telescope lens away from Mammoth and stared into it. "I dunno... it seems Slade's already prepared."

"So the sooner we attack, the better!" Gizmo exclaimed, a rabid glint in his eyes. "Tomorrow! Tomorrow, tomorrow, _tomorrow!"_ He jumped up and stomped the ground with both feet on each word. 

"Fine, fine!" replied Jinx in the same, loud voice. "We'll get the goonies rounded up and attack the tower tomorrow." Gizmo gave an excited, victorious shout, then darted away, no doubt to get things ready.

Jinx looked through the telescope again, mumbling something about a "cute guy," but gave a disappointed whine when she saw no one there. 

-

X typed in Blackfire's number. Finally, after sifting through conversations and logs, he and Hotspot had found how to contact her ship. Both boys leaned over the monitor, holding their breath, until X pushed the fiery boy out of view.

"We can't _both_ be seen! She might recognize you, anyway," snapped the thief. He turned back to the screen just as Blackfire appeared.

Her expression was quizzical as she looked at him. "Who are you?"

"A messenger," X said simply.

"Say it's a wrong number!" Hotspot whispered. "Hang up!" The thief just waved his hand swiftly for the boy to shut up.

"And who exactly sent me a message?" questioned Blackfire carefully.

"Slade. He wants you to come back to the tower."

--  
**Next Update:** Dec. 26th. Let the holiday sales begin. :3 LoL, I'm the farthest thing from a shopper you shall ever find. I reaaaallly loathe shopping. If it's not for necessity, I'm dragging my feet all the way.

I heart Gizmo. X3;

Question- which plot line do you like the most, Raven's, X's, or the Hive's? Just curious.


	21. Titans Found

**a.n. **How was everybody's Christmas? Was it merry? Mine was awesome... got to see all the family, got great gifts... my cousin, mom, aunt, and me all got to play this Mexican Train Domino Game... and since our grandma wasn't playing, no one was accused of cheating. :) LoL. ****

SabrinaRocks- Hey, welcome back. :) hehe. LoL, you bit your dentist? Right on! I don't like my new dentist, either. I've wanted to bite his hand just about every time I've had to visit him... but I don't 'cause I always go with my parents and the dentist would probably tell them and I'd get in trouble and stuff. :( Oh well. Hehe, anyway, thanks for the review and the vote. **raven717- **Haven't seen you for a couple of chapters, either. Well, I'm glad you like the story so much. :3 I must be doing something right... just don't really know what it is yet. X3; Cool, two votes for Raven. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well. **Boldprint56-** Another one I haven't seen in awhile. Hi. :) I'm assuming by that review, that you like it still? Hope so... you didn't give me much to work with. LoL. **kidsnextdoor112-** Thanks. I hope Gizmo is annoying and obnoxious as he is in the show. X3; **VampireSelene-** Cool, thanks for the review and vote. I kinda like Raven's plot the most out of 'em all, too. **lolopixie-** Hm, actually I just noticed Slade doesn't mention anything about Speedy. :( But X really reacts to that. hehe. More action in the next chapter. :3 **Lai-Ku-** ho ho holy cow... (ever seen Smallville? hehe) Are you making your own alternative ending before you've even seen the ending of this? LoL. Canadian? I thought you were Chinese... hehe fooled me. Well, since you're not entirely thrilled with the Hive, you should be happy to hear they're not in this chapter or the next. And if you want Slade to slap Raven around, read the next chapter. :3 And the story's kinda slow? I suppose so, but I have a theory about you (which I have arrived at in the last five minutes or so it's taken me to come up with this whole reply): You're used to the half hour show which, when not a season finale 2-parter or more, usually wraps stuff up real quickly. I'm not quite limited by a half-hour time limit... or commericals (yay)... so I develop stuff a lot slower. And about the sneak peek... be the 200th reviewer and we'll see. :p LoL. **Kendra Chetnova-** You... _skim?_ -gasp- heh j/k. Well, there's only Raven and X's stuff in here, and there's more of X's plot stuff than Raven's... o.O; Happy Reading...LoL. **Tritium-** Glad you like it. And wow... high expectations for the big showdown... o.O;; Talk about no pressure for me... heh. Hopefully I won't disappoint you too much. LoL. **psycicflower-** I must admit, I'm not much into the music world. I don't play any instruments anymore, and I've never been in choir. I know soprano's pretty high, but when you get into first, second, fiftieth... that's where you lose me. o.O; Nollaig Shona... is that your name or an Irish statement? Anyway, glad you like and it's good that everything finally came up.  
**  
Chapter 20**

"Slade wants me to return, now, does he?" repeated Blackfire in an unconvinced tone, a playfully suspicious gaze locked onto X. When he didn't make any move to respond, the woman continued, "Well. He can just tell me himself if it's so important. And in case he's wondering, I'm _not_ sending him any... cargo of mine. Everything is staying on my ship." The finality of her voice and the sudden hardness of her expression left no room for argument.

X merely shrugged. "That you can relay to him when he calls you in a couple of minutes."

Hotspot's eyes widened. "_What_ are you _doing?_" he cried in the loudest whisper he could manage.

"Slade just wanted me to make sure you were here. He didn't want to have to call an empty ship. That'd waste his time," the thief continued, ignoring the other boy completely.

He could see Blackfire arch a brow, the playful expression again dawning on her face.

"Yes, and I know how much Cyclops hates to have his time wasted. A couple of minutes, you say?" She paused, a devious look contorting her features so much that she didn't even resemble Starfire anymore. "A couple minutes would be just enough time... to leave."

"Leave?" X said quickly, sounding shocked.

"Of course," shrugged Blackfire. "Besides, it's happy hour at Club Casino. And everyone there adores my presence so. Tell Slade to call back some other time... after he already tries this time, of course. I've got a date with a rich Italian gambler." With that the link was terminated.

Laughing to himself, X leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. Hotspot had disbelief plastered all over his face.

"That... worked? How did you know...?"

"I saw how they interacted before." At his teammate's questioning look, the thief elaborated, "They hate each other's guts. I just had to play off of that." Leaning back over the monitor, X contacted Aqualad.

The long haired boy was again on the surface, but this time hiding behind a large group of rocks away from shore.

"Hey, what's going on? Blackfire surfaced; she's getting off the ship now. I barely got out of sight in time," Aqualad said quietly.

"Well, you better get on that ship before it sinks again, 'cause that bimbo's gonna be gone a looong time," advised X with a sharp nod. The long haired boy took a quick look around the end rock. 

"Okay. I've got a shot now. I'll call you when I'm in." The screen went dark and both boys heaved a sigh of relief. They could feel the tension in the room, stuffed in so tightly they could feel the pressure against their lungs, stifling their breath. So close. Only a few more things had to go right and they would be home free.

After a long silence, Hotspot suddenly asked, "What about Speedy?" X gave a groan and brought up the window that tracked Titans communicators. He saw Speedy was heading back to the Mega Arcade. He called the boy's communicator, an annoyed look in his eyes. Hotspot cringed at the thought of what was inevitably coming.

When the archer's face appeared on the monitor, the thief immediately snapped, "Hey. Idiot. What was _possibly_ going through your mind that possessed you to-" He was pushed off the screen and out of the chair by Hotspot, and when he protested, the other boy's head flared with tall flames. X quickly took a liking to the next chair and sat patiently.

"Man, why'd you go?" Hotspot asked, sitting down in the newly claimed seat.

"I told you guys- Raven might trust us better if we helped. She needed help, too," Speedy said fervently, checking Hotspot's background for X. When the archer never found the thief, he maintained a pleasant tone.

"Okay, but just don't do that again. Aqualad's almost got the the Titans- we'll get Raven soon enough. Now c'mon back before you're spotted," the fiery boy said. Suddenly X poked his head back into view and Speedy reacted by a sour expression gripping his face. X merely said, "Oh, hey, and on your way, stop for some tacos."

-

Raven entered the living room, pulling her hood off of her head. She saw Slade near the computer, observing the large screen. With a firm expression, the dark girl marched over to him, snatching the communicator out of her ear. When she reached the man, she slammed the bud on top of the control panel in front of him. He slowly looked down at it, then over to her.

"You have something to say?" he prompted.

"I don't get you," Raven growled in a defeated sort of way, eyeing him as if he would suddenly offer some new insight. "You train me like we're going to war, you act almost nice to me most of the time, and you act like you're doing me a favor taking me under you wing. Then I get out in a real fight and you're screaming your head off at me! You're ordering me around like I don't know what to do myself. So what are you _really_ after? Please, tell me now so you can stop faking kindness," she finished coldly.

Slade tilted his head. "'Faking kindness'? You make me sound like a two-faced liar." At that Raven arched an eyebrow.

"Check a mirror lately?" the dark girl shot back, folding her arms across her chest. Slade's head bent downward as he gave a small chuckle.

"Don't confuse me with the stereotype your teammates planted in your brain, Raven," he said, looking up and straight into her eyes. "There are no sides anymore, no right and wrong. We're not enemies... are we?"

Raven had pondered that question for the longest time after Slade had moved into the tower. She had resolved it in her mind, but saying it out loud was something else. Admitting it to him would be like a binding contract- a word she could never go back on. She fidgeted under his unblinking gaze.

"No..." she said at last, sounding slightly insincere. When Slade continued to stare at her, she realized he was expecting a better answer. 

"No, we're not enemies. We're somehow on the same side that isn't 'good,' but it's not 'evil,' either. If there is such a plane, we've managed to land on it, but we're not enemies," Raven stated with a slight enthusiastic tone uncharacteristic of her. The man gave another amused note.

"So if I'm not your enemy, why are you so bent on knowing my motives? What brought on this spark of interest?" Slade questioned. The girl was silent for a moment, collecting her thoughts while staring out over the bay.

Looking back, she said, "It's like you're two totally different people. Around the tower, you act... teacherly. Yet when you send me off, you act like a dictator that thinks I'm doing everything wrong. Either you're teaching me and trusting me to use this knowledge when it counts, or you're trying to control my every move. One of those is the real you. Which is it?"

"I do admit I get... impatient watching a battle from a computer screen, and a worse side might emerge, but it's not my whole character. Everyone has several sides to them, Raven, including yourself. Is it fair to ask which side is them? No."

"Then is it fair to ask you to tone down some of your sides?"

"Yes, I guess so," the man nodded. After a pause, he added, "Anything else?"

A vacant look spread across her eyes, like she was retreating into her mind to shield herself from the expected answer. "Why did you send me out to fight Cinderblock? He wasn't crafty or too threatening. Why couldn't your soldiers handle it?"

"I thought it was time to see how you fought on your own."

The vacancy had entered her voice, too, making her sound distant; hollow. "You wanted to see if I would use that attack again, did you? That's why you sent me." Slade was silent for awhile.

"Yes."

Raven closed her eyes, looking as betrayed as she felt. She gave a sigh and her voice returned to normal, which made it all the more convicting. "You used me." It had much more impact in the quiet way that she said it rather than if she had screamed it.

Slade could find nothing to say in his defense. "I'm sorry, Raven. I just wanted to know." The girl took a step forward, a cold, harsh look in her eyes.

"Then why didn't you just _ask_ me?"

Slade looked away. He didn't feel like arguing his case with Raven, so instead skipped right to the part she wanted to hear. "All right, my dear. I'll ask you next time," said Slade, looking back at her.

Raven gave a hardly noticeable pout; she had run out of reasons to yell at the man. "I'm going to check on my robots," she said at last. The dark girl began walking off when Slade quickly spoke up.

"Lonely?"

"I've been lonely for a long time," she replied over her shoulder without slowing her pace.

"I haven't been here _that_ long, you know."

"A longer time than that."

Slade turned to look at her, but she wa already in the hallway with the doors closing behind her. Turning his attention back to the computer screen, he brought up a window he had hidden upon Raven's entering. It was an enhanced view of all the jail escapee's destinations and Cinderblock's origination. It was a cluster of warehouses on the water, and on the roof of one was the Hivelings.

"_Something_ is certainly afoot."

-

Aqualad's face appeared on one of the wall screens again. This time, his background was dark and there were no other noises for him to have to talk over. 

"Hey, okay- I'm in," he said quietly. It seemed to the three boys in the Mega Arcade that the only light in the ship was coming from Aqualad's communicator.

"How'd you do it?" questioned Hotspot, leaning closer to the monitor.

"Very quickly." The long haired boy looked around, searching expectantly for security devices. "Blackfire surfaced near the shore and I had to sneak in the way she left before she closed it and without her seeing me. But I did. Once she was out, the ship submerged again." Aqualad took another look around the small cargo bay. "Are you sure the Titans are here?"

"Yeah. They're in the floor," X replied, then held the other boy's questioning gaze. "I'm serious. I saw Blackfire show Slade. There's some kind of control on the floor. She stepped on something. Just walk around- you'll find it."

Even though a skeptical expression dominated his face, Aqualad did as he was told. He began marching around, firmly stomping a foot on all the tiles he came across.

"I feel like an idiot," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Well, when you finally find the Titans, you'll feel like an _important_ idiot," Speedy replied with with half a grin. Aqualad merely grumbled.

As the minutes wore on, the other boys began doubting the reliability of X's information. None of them said anything out loud, but it was easily seen on their expressions. Hotspot and Speedy were frequently exchanging glances, one of them giving an occasional shrug.

Finally X noticed them and caught on. "They're there. Believe me," he said firmly, but partly to reassure himself. "She couldn't have moved them. She'd have no where to move them to-"

A shout from Aqualad brought everyone's attention back to the screen.

"What? What happened?" X asked quickly. 

"I think I found something," choked the long haired boy, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the fumes. There was a drawn-out hissing sound as the room brightened considerably.

The three boys, who could only see Aqualad's expression, were dying of anticipation. It also didn't help when Aqualad's eyes widened and breath caught.

"What is it? What'd you find?" Hotspot practically screamed, leaning over to one side of the monitor as if it could help him to see under the opposite edge and catch a glimpse of what Aqualad was seeing.

"You were right," he said slowly, almost mesmerized. "They _were_ under the floor."

"The Titans?" questioned Speedy. "You found them?"

In answer, Aqualad turned the communicator to face the newly risen tanks. There, frozen in some alien substance, was the Titans. Their faces bore expressions of surprise while their bodies appeared to be ready to fight.

"I wonder what was going on before they were... captured," Hotspot mused as he carefully studied the four teammates.

"Ask 'em when they're out," X said quickly. "Okay, laddyboy, are there any controls around that could possibly dethaw them?"

"No," Aqualad said after a brief pause as the communicator screen turned back to him.

"Okay, any buttons on the tanks? Or on/off switches?"

"C'mon, this is alien technology- is it gonna be that simple?" the long haired boy asked back. "Besides, if I do find a way to open them, what if an alarm goes off and Blackfire shows up? The Titans might not be up to fight."

There was a pause as everyone tried to figure out a solution. X leaned back in his chair, his fist against his mask and his elbow propped up against his other arm. He was bent on coming up with a solution. However, Speedy was the first to speak up.

"Why not just hijack the ship and fly it back here?"

--  
**Next Update:** Friday, December 30th. Merry Christmas. :) Yes, two in one week. Huzzah.

Ha, for some reason I just like it when X talks to Speedy. "Hey. Idiot." X3; So fun writing all these characters... LoL.

From the little survey I asked last chapter... out of 9 voters (and many had multiple choices), Raven's was the favorite with 8 votes, then it was X with 4 and the Hive with 2.


	22. Slade's Game

**a.n.** Happy New Year this weekend!  
**Moon's Darkness-** Aw, so I'm really all there is out there updating? Cool for me. :) LoL. Thanks for the review. **Kendra Chetnova-** Will Raven hook up? Meh. I don't want to make an overly-obvious romantic story... but there may be subtle things... maybe. And my Xmas present to everyone is this chapter so soon! Yes, the story will be ending soon. But not like in the next chapter or two. In like... 5 or 6. Sorry. :( **gothic kid 13-** Fresh meat:D j/k Well, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about my story. :) LoL. Hope I can keep you interested. **faLLen-dreamz-** Yep. It took them, wow, how many chapters? But they finally found the Titans. X3; **Tritium-** Glad you like X. I like his entire team. I'm trying to make them as weird and quirky as possible. LoL. I kinda think Slade's more evil when he's acting nice than when he's kicking people around... so that's why I wrote him the way I did. At least he's believeable. :) Thanks for the review and hope you like this chapter as well. **psycicflower-** Wow, Irish sounds like a very strange language to learn. And do people really say "top 'o the morning to ya"? LoL. When I think of Irish, I think of that sentence. X3; (I'm probably really uncultured, tho. hehe) Have fun with the relatives. :) And glad you still like the story after 20 chapters. Yay! ...is "slan" bye? **kidsnextdoor112-** Updating a lot sooner than before. Here you go. :) Happy reading. **glitz-and-glamour-** More new people, huzzah:D I like good RobxRae fics, too... I wonder why there's nothing like that in here. / Hm. Anyway, I'm glad you like this story even though it's got none of that in here. :3 You're feeding my ego. LoL. **lolopixie-** Yes, and we all know how fun Blackfire is to be around when she's angry about something. X3; Bwaha. I'm glad you like the story so much. **angelwolf6547-** Hey, thanks. Glad people are interested in the story. And here's what happens: **zelda-** Am I really one for long chapters? I don't think they're super short, but I don't make one-chapter novels. ...or at least I try not to. Mebbe this'll be a decent length, I dunno. You'll still like it if it's short-ish, right? LoL. **gracefulraven-**Thanks! Well, you know if it took X and them so long to find the Titans, it'll take forever for the Titans to get out. XD; Sadly, though, no Hive until next chapter. :( Hopefully this chapter will be okay without them. LoL.  
**  
Chapter 21**

Everyone's eyes widened at the simplicity and obviousness of the answer.

"Say that again?" X said, his hand slowly falling from his face.

"What if Aqualad flies the ship back here? Then we can all try to figure out how to get the Titans off of there. Then, if there is some kind of an alarm, it won't matter 'cause we'd be here and Blackfire'd be way back... wherever that is," the archer explained. By the end of all that, a smug smile had found its way onto Speedy's face and he reclined in his seat looking very proud of himself. Hotspot glanced at X, waiting for the determining vote,

"Okay," X said at last. "Can you fly that thing, Aqualad?"

Aqualad traveled into the cockpit and quickly checked around. Luckily, the controls did not look as alien as the rest of the ship. In fact, they resembled things his buddy Tram worked with.

"It's possible," he decided after a long pause. "Give me a minute, though." 

The three boys waited patiently, watching through the communicator as Aqualad inspected all the controls, then hesitantly began pushing buttons.

Turning to X, Hotspot asked, "How long will it take him to fly here? A few hours?"

"At least," sighed the thief, leaning on his elbows, "but that might not be fast enough." At that, Speedy looked to him. 

"You always talk like it's a life or death thing. Lighten up, man, we've got the team."

"It _is_ life or death for the Titan that's still here," X snapped with a hard stare at the archer. "Every moment counts. Remember that."

"Okay, okay, sorry. Didn't realize I was disrespecting your girlfriend." Simultaneously, both boys stood up on either side of Hotspot as if they were going to fight. However, their imminent scuffle was disrupted when the top of Hotspot's head flared with large, wild flames. Reluctantly, the two sat down, arms folded across their chests, and a sour expression contorting their faces.

Their argument was instantly forgotten when a mechanical roar came from Aqualad's side. The noise quickly subsided, but shouts of "I got it! I got it!" filled the room. The ship was noticeably brighter as the boy slid into the captain's chair.

"Okay," he said distractedly, searching the panels for the right buttons and switches, "hopefully I'll be back in the city soon... if I don't crash first. Where should I land?"

X's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that at all. "Uh... we'll scout around and call you back in an hour or so." Aqualad closed his communicator and the screen went dark.

The thief stood up, looking expectantly at the other two. "All right, then, let's go. Split up, find something easy to get to, yet not so easy to see."

"You mean you don't have that planned?" criticized Speedy as he and Hotspot stood, too. "Just like you didn't have a headquarters?" he added in the same tone. X, however, was completely ignoring him as the thief led the way to the stairs.

Speedy grabbed his bow as he followed. "I can't believe you don't have anything!"

"Let it go, man, let it go," Hotspot groaned, an annoyed expression on his face that intimidated Speedy from arguing.

-

That evening, the three boys met back at the Mega Arcade after hours of searching.

"You find anything?" Hotspot asked Speedy as he sunk into a chair. The archer gave a limp shrug.

"Everything around here is in range of the Tower. There's nowhere to hide it." He directed a blame-filled glare at X. The thief vented a harsh sigh.

"Fine. I screwed up. I didn't think of everything. You happy?"

Speedy said nothing, but a smirk played on the corner of his mouth as he leaned against the side of a video game machine. Hotspot looked from one teammate to the other.

"What if... we could stop the Titans computer from detecting the ship? Couldn't you do something like that from here?"

X shrugged tiredly. "I don't know. I could try," he said. "We don't have anything else."

Speedy caught up his bow again. "We'll need a backup plan, though."

_"Like?"_ snapped the thief, thoroughly fed up with the archer by now. His cold gaze followed Speedy as the boy headed up the stairs.

"Keep Slade from the computer no matter what."

"And just _how_ are you going to do that? Ask him?"

The archer stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked over his shoulder, a knowing grin on his face. "Something like that." He darted up the stairs then, leaving the other two boys to exchange uncertain glances.

-

Raven sat slumped against a wall in the training room, tossing one of Cyborg's heaviest weight slabs around in the air with her powers. Her twenty robot guards were nearby, completing their upgrade installments.

Raven paused to watch them with a proud eye. They looked much more menacing now with Cyborg's implants and armoring. If she had ever thought something pretty, it was her small squadron of droids. She was so happy with these robots that she was even coming up with names for them, but the dark girl figured it would be best not to tell that to Slade.

To Raven's surprise, that was exactly who came through the training room doors. The man walked to the wall opposite her, fetched a couple of bo staffs, and motioned for the twenty droids to leave. They looked to the girl, however, for the real instruction. Only when she gave a nod did they troop out in single file. Once they had all left, Raven tilted her chin up, her head resting against the wall.

"Come to check and see if I had learned anything new?" she questioned cynically, raising an eyebrow.

"You hold grudges, don't you?" asked Slade as he tossed one of the staffs her way. It was quickly swallowed in shadow and hovered near the weight slab.

"Isn't it a little late to be training?"

The man spun his staff around his body in a practiced routine, much faster than Raven had seen him move with his wounded shoulder. "Not training. Tonight, a game."

"A game?" repeated the dark girl incredulously. She tried to keep an indiscernible expression, but somehow a skeptical look took over. "You play games?" Slade gave a shrug, though it was weak on his bad shoulder.

"What do you call most of those meetings with your team?" At that Raven gave a faint chuckle. With a wave of her hand, the large weight slab returned to the rack on the other side of the room.

"Not that," she said, climbing to her feet. "I meant fun games. Playing games. Not those evil, twisted things you're used to." The dark floating staff zoomed into her hand. She spun it into the air and caught it with her other hand, but kept it slowly spinning. "What kind of game are you talking about?"

"I expect it should be fun for you, since you have such a curious nature." One of Raven's eyebrows arched, but she kept her eyes on the continuously spinning rod.

"It's just a friendly duel. If you get past my defenses and tag me, you get to ask a question. And vice versa," the man explained.

The dark girl's eyes flashed over to Slade. "Any question?" she asked in a slow manner, as if she had been hypnotized by her spinning staff.

"Any question." Upon further thought, the man added, "But let's keep it decent, my dear." Raven smirked and tossed the stick into the air and caught it with her first hand.

"You have a sick mind, Slade."

"And on that wonderful note, shall we begin?"

They had barely sunken into their stances before darting for each other. The room was filled with sounds of staffs repeatedly colliding and echoes of sounds. Slade, mainly using his good arm, fought efficiently, blocking or diverting all of the dark girl's attacks. Raven completely abandoned defensive fighting and for that, the man quickly tagged her by whacking her in the back of the knee. The girl faltered with a cry of surprised pain, clutching her stinging leg.

"Well, I never said I'd go easy on you, now did I?"

Raven grumbled in response. "Fine, what's your question? Let's just get it over with."

"Do you want a father figure?" asked Slade. When the dark girl appeared alarmed at the question, he elaborated. "I don't mean do you want a father or your real father back, but just a fatherly figure."

Raven seriously pondered that as she rubbed her knee. "I... can't say I know what a real father should be like. I don't know what it would feel like to have a father. Maybe there would be too much emotion for my powers to suppress." She swung her rod around, adding in a quicker voice, "But I've lived this long without a dad, why start now?" Raven shrugged, sinking into a defensive position.

They fought on and the girl was much more careful to fight defensively as well; she had questions of her own, and she didn't want to answer Slade's.

A couple of minutes later, when neither of them had tagged the other, Raven came up with a strategic move. She faked that she was going to hit Slade's left side, and when he put up a block she skillfully swung the staff around and slashed at his right arm- the wounded arm. The man gave a shout of great pain, then grabbed his arm with a sharp intake of breath.

"I know what I said," he began slowly, "but that was just low, Raven." The dark girl seemed to ignore that.

"How did you lose your eye?"

"Didn't I tell you before?" he said while hissing with pain.

"No, you just said it was because you were slow. So why were you so slow that you lost your eye?"

Slade hesitated. "It was a family dispute," he said at last. "And my ex-wife happened to have a gun with her at the time." Raven's eyes bulged.

"Your _wife_ did that to you?"

"Now you can see why we're not married anymore," he replied, somewhat sarcastically. When he continued to hiss in pain, Raven drew close and put her hand on his arm. Almost immediately after that, Slade's head shot up.

"The pain's gone," he announced, surprised. The man swung his arms around, testing his shoulder, then gave another unexpected painful hiss.

"Well, I can't _heal_ it," Raven said defensively. "I can just lessen the pain. I thought you knew all of my abilities."

She took a few steps backward and they continued fighting. Slade, too, wanted to ask questions more than answer them and he fought harder. Soon, he hit her side when he found a hole in her defense. Raven acknowledged the tag begrudgingly.

"That attack you did yesterday, was that some random thing or could you actually control it?" the man asked, leaning on his staff.

"To some degree, I think. It all happened so fast," replied Raven.

"Well then, I would appreciate it if next time you decide to use that, that you would not include me as one of your victims," the man said, getting ready for another attack.

Raven followed. "I can't promise anything."

Not even a minute later, Slade had tagged her again. For a second the girl wondered if he could be cheating.

"What do you fear?"

The dark girl was taken aback at the bluntness of the question. "I... I fear... myself, I guess. Losing control of my powers and hurting someone or something. I've had countless nightmares about that..." Raven was about to continue, but she suddenly remembered her audience and stopped there.

The fighting continued and to Raven's satisfaction, she tagged Slade next. She already had the question prepared and rattled it off immediately after she struck him.

"Why did you get married?"

The man nodded, as if he had been expecting a question like that, and leaned on his staff again. "A silly little excuse called love. That's really all we had, and in retrospect, I see it wasn't enough. It was nice while it lasted, I guess, but if I ever had a chance to go back, I wouldn't have made that mistake." 

Raven felt like flinching at his brusqueness. She couldn't see how he could talk about his wife, even an ex-wife, like that. To her surprise, Slade continued. "Those years seem like wasted years to me now. Maybe I'll never really know what made me want to marry. Companionship... stability... just having someone to protect and look after..." His voice trailed off and Raven patiently waited for him to return from his thoughts.

The dark girl was beginning to grasp how powerful those memories were to him. She had never experienced something so life changing in her short years. But if it was enough to make Slade so overwhelmed and lost in thought, would those experiences be too much for her powers to handle?

When the man continued to stare at the floor, Raven sighed and set the bo staff on the ground. Besides, she realized how tired she was and she also wanted to put ice on her knee; an ugly bruise was appearing where Slade had first tagged her. 

As Raven walked toward the door, slightly limping, the man suddenly spoke up. "Why are you so fascinated with the fact of my being married?" She stopped in the doorway and looked back. Slade was still gazing fixatedly at the floor.

"Because it was... shocking to discover. And it seemed uncharacteristic of you to have a wife... or even to love someone," replied Raven.

"I told you that was a part of my life that has been dead for awhile now."

"I know." The dark girl couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity for the man. In this state, he seemed almost helpless- and that was such a contrast from the side of him she and the rest of the TItans were used to that it was almost unbelievable.

"You know, you said you thought love wasn't enough... I might've just done it for the stability and companionship." At that, Slade finally looked up, but Raven was already gone and the doors were sliding shut.

The dark girl limped all the way to her room and was surprised when cold air gust out upon her door's opening. It was freezing inside and her window was halfway open. Carefully Raven looked around, making sure she was alone, then closed her window with a wave of her hand. Turning, she was surprised to see an arrow sticking out of her wall, pinning a note at eye level.

"Keep Slade away from the computers at all costs," the girl read. She pulled the arrow out of the wall and tossed it on the ground, letting the paper float down.

After a moment lost in thought, Raven sunk through the floor and found her way to the living room. She rose up through the floor in the middle of the room and quickly dismissed the few guards that were there. The girl floated over to the large computer and contacted a few of her soldiers, instructing them to come stand guard at the two living room doors.

Then Raven checked to see if any Titans communicators were near. Maybe Speedy was still around. If he was, the girl would track him down and demand answers for all this interference from so many allies.

-

"Okay, Aqualad, how's it going so far?" asked Hotspot when the pilot had called the team again.

"I'll be there within the hour. Do you have a landing place for me?"

X, leaning on the back of his chair next to Hotspot, nodded. "Yep. Right on top of this arcade." Checking the alien ship on another monitor, the thief noticed only four Titan communicator signals.

"Hey, fishboy... did you lose your 'talkie or something?" X asked slowly, rescanning the ship to make sure the report was right. Aqualad gave a questioning look.

"Noo... how else would I be talking to you now? I have no clue how to work the ship's communications."

"Well, then one of the Titans doesn't have theirs..." X's and Hotspot's eyes widened at the same time and they look at each other, alarm consuming both their faces.

"Blackfire!"

-

Slade was in the garage pouring over a couple of newly-drawn designs when Blackfire appeared on the small screen next to the door.

"_There_ you are!" she cried in a voice that made the man cringe. Slowly he looked over at her.

"I never expected to hear from you so soon. And I had such hope..." At her perturbed expression, Slade said, "What's wrong, run out of money?"

"You stole my ship!" she accused instantly in a screech that made him cringe even more. Once his head stopped pounding, Slade protested.

"I assure you, I did no such thing." He eyed her suspiciously. "Are you sure you can handle these earth drinks?"

"I didn't mean you personally, but your messengers did! I can't believe you! I wasn't coming back anyway. And you _knew_ how much I liked my collection!"

"I beg your pardon," said Slade, nearing the screen with an uncertain look in his eye. "My _what_? I don't have any messengers."

"That guy with the skull mask and the red mark on his forehead. And then there's the guy who actually _stole_ my ship-" Slade, however, wasn't listening, for he had already darted out of the garage.

-

Raven watched one Titan communicator hover on the bank of the bay, a little distance away from the Tower. She wondered if anyone would notice if she slipped out for ten minutes or so.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Slade's voice.

"What are you doing? Get out of my way!" he shouted from the hallway. Wide eyed, Raven quickly deleted the window and let the screen go blank. Just as it shut down, Slade burst past the girl's robots and into the room.

"I need that computer. Now," he said, practically out of breath. Raven arched a brow. Had he been running? To get to the computer? Speedy's message flashed through her mind as she stood in Slade's way.

"This sounds urgent," she said slowly.

"It is. I need to look up something very important and you happen to be standing right in front of the control panel."

Raven hesitated, observing him carefully. Finally she gave a shrug. "It's your house, too," said the girl, stepping to the side and letting him pass.

--  
**Next Update:** Friday, Jan. 6th. (Yep, not a Monday. That'd be three in eight days... I'm not _that_ generous.)


	23. Titans Return to the City

**a.n. raex18-** You still want this to be a Raven/X story, don't you? LoL. Don't think it'll really be one of those... but glad you like it all the same. **faLLen-dreamz-** Will Raven have a plan? Raven never has a plan. It's Slade, X, and the Hive who all have plans. XD;; Wow, why doesn't Raven have plans. :( -goes and contemplates the story- **VampireSelene-** Thank you very much. Hope you like this chapter as well. **lolopixie-** Yay, I want people to get attached to Slade. X3; I'm happy you like it so much. At least I'm doing something right. LoL. (Just gotta find out what that is XD;) **kidsnextdoor112-** LoL, I read your review and I'm like "romance? What? where, who?" I'm assuming you mean Slade and Raven? (It's pretty sad I don't know my own story, LoL) Eh... maybe. :3 I'm glad you like the story and I hope I can keep your interest. **Tritium-** No flowers, hm? Darn. -erases that part from the next chapter- j/k Doesn't he still seem evil to you? LoL. And actually, the last chapter was 3,560 words long. And that's with this whole replying part and everything. **SabrinaRocks-** Glad you liked it. :) I'm afraid now everyone will be comparing everything to come to the last chapter and will be disappointed. hehe. **psycicflower-** I've always wanted red hair, actually. That was after my phase of wanting to be oriental. XD; Women's Christmas? I think I've heard of that... no specific details- just the name. I've always wanted to know what it was like to live in another country. I mean, America has a jumble of backgrounds and shared traditions and all... but places like Ireland or European or oriental countries seem to have just one, deep culture. Just seems fun. Anyway, glad you're still into the story after 21 chapters. XD; Hope you like this one as well. **zelda-** Wow... I'm guessing you really like the chapters. LoL. Keep that optimism, and I won't disappoint you too badly. hehe j/k I'm really excited you like the story and hope you'll stick with it a few more chapters until the end (yes, sadly it's drawing to a close). **raven717-** Ooh, Mexico... how was it down there? You didn't drink the water, did you? LoL j/k Even though the Hive got another vote, they're still in last place. hehe, oh well. **Lai-Ku-** x.x; Dang. Actually, I do consider that last review, where you posted on the 1st chapter, to be null and void 'cause you were just doing that to get a sneak peek. :p -Gollum voice- Tricksy readers, yes... Hey, and even after all that, I find I'm not on any of your favorites lists! o.o;; LoL j/k

****

Chapter 22

"What about Blackfire?" cried Aqualad, also becoming alarmed at his teammates' reactions.

"Forget it- you gotta clock the ship- _now_!" X ordered, leaning close to the screen. The long haired boy looked around at all the controls, a confused expression on his face.

"How am I supposed to do that? Does this ship even _have_ that ability?" Aqualad replied in a strained voice. His gaze swept over the controls again, his brow furrowed with frustration.

A beeping sound came from the corner monitor. X jumped up and rushed over to see what was happening. "Slade's accessing a tracking program!" the thief shouted, eyes widening.

Hotspot's attention snapped back to Aqualad. "Cloak it, man, _cloak it_!" the fiery boy exclaimed frantically, flames starting to appear on his head.

"Everything's in an alien language!" retorted a thoroughly stressed Aqualad.

X took a seat at the corner monitor and rapidly began entering codes, trying to shut Slade out. "Just start hitting random buttons!" he advised distractedly. He gave a growl of outrage each time something didn't work.

"What looks like the cloak button?" demanded Hotspot quickly. In the rush of the moment, all the boys seemed to have a snappish tone.

"They all look alike!"

"Well, are any buttons set off by themselves? Like in a protective case or something?" 

Aqualad's gaze darted around the cockpit again. "Yeah, a few."

"Try the one closest to the steering controls."

"Are you sure that'd be the cloak?"

"It's the closest to the pilot's hands- easy access. What else could it be?" cried Hotspot.

"I dunno- self destruct?"

"Why would a ship have a _self destruct button_?"

"Why would it have a _cloak button_?" Aqualad shot back desperately. He looked as if he was about ready to pull his hair out in frustration. 

"Guys!" shouted X from the corner. "The Titans computer is scanning! Find that cloak! Like... in the next twenty seconds! I can't stop him!"

Hotspot snapped his fingers, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Aqualad! Look for a lever! Are there any handles or levers?"

"One... kinda over there-"

"Pull it!"

"Are you-"

"PULL IT!" 

Immediately Aqualad leaned far to the side, grabbed the only lever and forced it down its track. The three boys held their breath. 

Finally, Hotspot managed to ask, "Did it work?" in a voice that was afraid to break the stifling silence. X checked several nearby monitors.

"They're not picking up the ship anymore." With a sigh of relief, everyone slumped back against their seats.

-

Raven watched silently with one eyebrow arched as nothing came up on the radar. Slade seemed more composed now as he called in a few of his robots.

"Watch this screen. If anything comes up, alert me immediately," he instructed them, pointing to the monitor. When they stationed themselves at different controls, Slade turned to leave.

"Expecting something?" questioned the dark girl as he passed her. The man stopped.

"More like taking precautions." He looked ready to leave when he quickly looked down at Raven. "What are you doing in here?"

Quickly the fridge door opened and a few ice cubes floated out. A shadowed towel flew out of a kitchen drawer, wrapped around the ice, and landed in the girl's hand.

"Getting some ice." Raven then floated over to the semicircular couch, swung both her legs onto it and put the ice on her bruise.

Slade looked from the dormant screen to the dark girl, skillfully hiding his apprehension. "Why don't you return to your room?" he suggested slowly. Raven looked up at him with a questioning expression.

"I like it here. I can look out the windows." Slade glanced at the wall of glass and only saw pitch blackness outside.

"And what a view tonight," he replied monotonely. Raven just paid attention to dabbing her bruise with the ice. Slade looked again at the computer, suddenly hoping the ship wouldn't show up. The man was slightly startled when Raven spoke up.

"How's your shoulder?" He turned back to her.

"Healing. You suddenly care?"

Raven gave a shallow shrug, not taking her eyes off her bruised knee. "Just thought I'd ask. Talking's better than nothing, sometimes." Slade walked around to the back of the couch and stopped behind the dark girl.

"That sounds uncharacteristic of you, my dear. I thought you lived for your silent times." Rave stopped dabbing her bruise but did not look up.

"It's been a little too silent around here lately." Slade rested his elbows on the back of the couch.

"You want to talk?" he asked, the slightest hint of criticism in his voice.

"I don't know what I want," sighed Raven as she leaned her shoulder against the couch back. Then she looked up at him. "You just volunteered to me... I guess being uncharacteristic is contagious tonight."

Slade glanced up at the screen again, half hoping Blackfire had been drunk and didn't know what she was saying. It might be disastrous if Raven saw the ship reappear.

The man finally noticed she was staring at him and he wondered how long she had been doing that. "What?"

"What's under your mask?"

"A face," Slade replied quickly, looking down at her. "What's under _your_ mask?" An amused yet puzzled expression crossed her features. 

"I don't have a mask."

"Yes, you do. You wear it every day. That emotionless expression you wear is your mask. So what's underneath?"

Raven shrugged. "Muscles and bone, I suppose." To that, Slade gave an actual laugh which startled the girl so much it made her jump. She stared at him wide eyed. He could laugh like that?

The man's gaze flashed over to the computer screen again when a lapse of silence followed. It was near midnight- Raven had to go to bed soon. But looking at her, she appeared bent on getting rid of her bruise before leaving the room.

Raven pressed the ice against her leg, a slight grimace flickering across her face. "What are you thinking about?" she asked at last.

"Nothing."

"How can you think about nothing?"

"It's not... thinking about nothing, it's... not thinking about anything," Slade replied slowly, waving his hand in an intellectual fashion. The girl snickered.

"Profound," said Raven with a slightly sarcastic shake of her head. She looked up, staring out the windows and into the darkness. "I'm thinking I want to go outside right now." The man followed her gaze, then quickly checked the computer screen.

"Go ahead," he said at length.

"Seriously?" questioned Raven, staring strangely at him. "You're letting me out of the tower? On my own?"

Slade still detected a sarcastic hint in her tone. "Yes," he replied in the same manner, "you're a big girl now." At that, Raven rose from the couch, dropped the ice, and floated outside- right through the windows.

-

"C'mon, wake up, let's GO!" Gizmo shouted, jumping up and down.

"That's my hip, doofus!" cried Jinx, shooting her teammate with a pink beam. The little inventor had entered Jinx's room and proceeded to jump on her bed- landing on her. Now he was back on the floor again.

"Well it's the day we attack! Get up! You'll have slappin' _forever_ to sleep after this! Let's go!" he exclaimed, jumping up and waving his arms around. The girl checked her bedside clock, a possession recently stolen.

"It's midnight," Jinx said flatly as she sat up. "When I said we'd attack tomorrow, I meant at a reasonable time. Now get out of my room. I have beauty sleep to catch up on." She pointed toward the door, eyeing Gizmo dangerously. He gave a grating squeal and seemed to twitch.

"Don't give them time to prepare... or time to wake up! Attack now, while the idiots are off guard!" he protested. The girl was silent for a moment.

"Okay, we can go now." Gizmo brightened at that. "But," said Jinx, "_you_ have to wake Mog up. Come up with a good reason for disturbing him now, because he will definitely want one." Gizmo cringed, then headed for the door with a noticeable slouch.

"Fine," he growled. "We'll wait until the _real_ morning." But he proceeded to grumble loudly about it all the way back to his room.

-

Raven surveyed the opposite shore from the edge of the island bank. After a couple of minutes of this kind of searching, the girl vented a defeated sigh. Speedy wasn't there.

Raven pulled her hood over her head and drew her cloak tighter around herself. She was getting impatient. X, Aqualad, Hotspot and Speedy were all up to something- something to do with her. And she wanted to know what.

Suddenly the girl's attention was caught by splashing sounds nearby. Raven carefully stalked along the bank until she found the source of the noise. In the water, about twenty feet away feet out, was Speedy, swimming away from the tower. Raven's eyes grew white as she watched him. Her shadowed hand reached out toward him and instantly he was enveloped in a dark bubble that slowly returned to the shore. Once it reached Raven, it didn't disappear; the girl wasn't going to give Speedy the chance to run.

"Hey again," the archer greeted in a friendly manner, a lopsided grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Raven flatly.

"I just came back for my arrow. See?" He leaned to one side and pointed at the quiver on his back which held rows of identical arrows. The Titan's face remained firmly set in a scowl. Her look made Speedy's smile vanish and his shoulders droop.

"Okay, no sense of humor tonight. But did you at least keep Slade off the computer?"

"Why is that so important to you?"

"Because then he won't pick up the ship Aqualad's bringing back."

"What ship?" questioned Raven, arching an eyebrow.

"The ship the Titans are in." Instantly the girl's expression hardened.

"Still on X's little missions, are you? Well, I have a message for him: Stay out of my life, stay out of my home, and if he wants to live to see the sun rise, _stay out of my room!_"

"We're all just trying to help. And when we free the Titans, they'll be helping, too," said Speedy, leaning his hands on the bubble as if trying to force his way out. "Listen, Raven, we're your friends!" 

"I have no friends. When are you and the other guys finally going to realize that? I don't want your help. Why are you even working for a thief?"

The archer paused, observing Raven with a sorrowfully defeated gaze. "I could ask you the same question." A long silence followed. Finally the girl spoke up.

"I don't need saving so tell X to stop wasting his time. The next time I catch any of you guys around here, I'm turning you over to Slade." Speedy banged his fist against the encasement in protest, but otherwise gave no reply. With a wave of her hand, Raven sent the bubble floating back out over the water. Halfway between the island and the opposite shore, it burst, dropping Speedy into the deep bay.

Returning to the front of the tower, the girl looked up and noticed Slade's silhouette in the living room window. Her breath caught. Had he been watching her the whole time? What would he think if he saw her conversing with Titan allies? Cautiously, Raven flew back up to the window and phased through. She landed next to Slade, but the man kept staring outside, his hands behind his back.

Just like she felt when Slade had first contacted her in the tower, Raven felt almost traitorious talking with someone who considered Slade an enemy.

The girl silently returned to the couch and reclaimed her seat and the ice pack.

"It's late. You should go to bed, my dear," Slade spoke up at last, his voice almost echoing off the windows.

Raven looked up. "You're not. Why should I?"

"I still have work to do." He turned and stared at her. "Besides, you're a growing girl- you need your sleep." When a questioning expression consumed her face, Slade added, "Haven't you ever been told that? The younger you are, the more sleep you need?"

"I... I kinda knew that, but no one's really said it to me," Raven admitted with a slight shake of her head. The man looked back out the windows.

"My father used to tell me that all the time. I hated it. But now that I get to say it, it doesn't seem so bad," said Slade. The girl tried, but she couldn't see Slade as having parents... or even being a child.

The man turned back and gave an impatient prod of his head when he saw Raven still on the couch. "Go." Reluctantly she got up and floated for the side doors. Upon reaching the doorway she stopped. 

"Miss America Pageant or Baywatch?"

"What?" Slade questioned with a wide eye.

"Which one would you rather watch?"

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Just a random question," replied Raven with a shrug of one shoulder.

"My dear, I hardly have time for television."

"Just pick one."

Slade was silent for a moment. Finally he tilted his head, saying, "I guess it depends who exactly is on. I mean if there was someone like Starfire on there..." He was not at all surprised when the ice pack, drowned in darkness, came hurtling right for his face. Lazily raising a hand, he caught it in plenty of time- much to Raven's disappointment. A tone of amusement seeped into his voice. "Go."

"I'm going, I'm going..."

-

Aqualad landed the cloaked ship right on the Mega Arcade's large roof, where X and Hotspot were already waiting. The rear hatch opened, making a ramp which the two boys ascended. Instantly they noticed the Titan tanks, then they saw Aqualad slump out of the cockpit.

"Hey," he yawned, rubbing an eye.

"You did good, man," X congratulated, checking out the controls all around the tanks.

"Thanks... mind if I crash? That flight was stressful." The thief gave an approving nod and Aqualad headed for the ramp. Passing Hotspot, he said, "I am never flying anything ever again. Your turn next time." The fiery boy slapped Aqualad's shoulder with a smirk, then headed over to X.

"Can you get them out?"

"Yeah, it'll just-" He was interrupted by the jingle of the Titan communicators on both boys' belts. "That's probably Speedy. I wonder where that idiot's run off to this time..." When they opened the devices, they found the last person they expected staring back at them.

"Okay, if you're not Slade's messenger, _who are you?_" screeched Blackfire.

"Name's X. And I thank you for your ship and the Titans."

"You give them back! Right now!"

X looked all around, then back at Blackfire. "Sorry, looks like the pilot's gone and left us."

"I'm coming there _right now_, and when I get my hands on you-" she hissed threateningly.

"Sounds great. It's a date, then?" Before she could reply, X closed his communicator. Hotspot looked at him, half in awe, half in disbelief.

"You're not afraid of her? She's got Starfire's powers..." 

"And I've got a whole ocean separating us. Not even Starfire could fly that long all at once. Now c'mon, firecracker, help me find that open button." Hotspot returned his communicator to his belt and glanced thoughtfully about the room.

"Hey," he spoke up suddenly, "look for a lever..."

--**  
Next Update:** Jan. 13th. Ooh, Friday the 13th. Freaky. hehe.

-sigh- I really like X. Such a little gentleman.

And... I'm changing it slightly... 20**5**th reviewer gets a sneak peek. One review per person as before (:p) and if you're an anon. reviewer, I'll need an e-mail address or else I'll have no way of sending it to you. Hopefully there'll be no loopholes in that. ...heh.


	24. The Truth Comes Out

**a.n. VampireSelene- **Eh, Slade's probably a lot of evil things. o.O; LoL. **raex18-** Thanks. :3 I'm glad you're still reading after all this time. Hehe. Hope you'll stay with it to the end (not much longer, sadly). **devouring inferno-** Thank you very much. :) When you start your story, I wish you luck. Nice s/n, btw. **Boldprint56-** Yes, I probably don't need telling about the story... but I like hearing it anyway. X3; You've been reviewing since pretty close to the beginning, so I really listen and respect what you have to say. It's nice you're so good to me. XD; **raven717-** You went to Mexico and lived to tell the tale? Hehe. Wait... are you comparing this story to Mexico? o.O; j/k. Well, it's good you had a fun time and thanks for the review. **ScarletteBlue-** "Would-be rescuers"... XD;; That's the perfect description for them. LoL. Thank you for the review and I'm really glad you like it. Hope this chapter keeps your interest. :3 **Tritium-** I just wanted the honorary Titans to be as wacky as possible for some reason... yet at the same time keeping them believable. Hopefully I've discovered that middle ground. XD; And how did Hotspot know a lever would work? Well... he could've also told Aqualad to look for a Tamaranian DDR cloaking mat... but that would've been too random. (Speaking of random, I'm in a random mood tonight. XD:;) And the battle of Hive vs. Titan vs. Raven is next chapter. Sorry. But glad you're so interested. **faLLen-dreamz-** You want Raven to stay good, huh? Yes, the story is ending soon. When did I start posting this... back in August? So yeah, it's about time. LoL. **gracefulraven-** Hehe, thanks. (What's "Boga"?) I look forward to your next chapter as well. :) **lolopixie-** Everyone will be here over the course of the next two chapters. Hehe. And... I dunno, maybe Hotspot is some kind of expert on... cloaking technology...? XD; You never know. And neither do I, which is rather sad. Thanks for the review. hehe. **Moon's Darkness-** Thank you and yes, Raven will stay on the bad side. :) **psycicflower-** I was wondering when you'd reply. LoL. Sucra... is that 'hey,' 'yay,' 'long time no see,' or 'I have a fish in my pocket'? hehe j/k. I think Raven was just ignoring Speedy most of the time... LoL. So yeah, she didn't pick up on the part about freeing the Titans. Glad you're still into it. ..."knackered"... sounds British. That's so cool. X3; LoL. ****

Chapter 23

The first rays of sun had risen above the horizon when Gizmo burst into Jinx's room again. "It's morning, it's morning! Mammoth's up... Mog's up! Let's go, lazyfluff!" He climbed onto her bed and began stepping on her.

"Get off! It's not even six!" whined the girl, sleepily pushing him to the floor. Gizmo gave a grating squeal.

"You're not serious... if you're not coming, _I'm_ going without you!"

Jinx pulled her covers over her head. "Go ahead." The boy's face contorted into an impish scowl. With a whine, Gizmo scurried out of the room to find something to do while he waited for everyone else.

-

X and Hotspot had successfully located the dethaw lever late the night before, but never expected the process to take so long. It was like waiting for ice to melt in an environment not much warmer. Therefore, X had Hotspot sit in front of the two middle tanks, head flaring. The thief quickly complained the room was too hot and went outside the ship to wait.

Early the next morning had found the fiery boy asleep against one of the tanks. The alien substance was almost completely melted; only near the bottom of their feet was still solid. The Titans, however, still appeared frozen.

"Wake up," X said, shaking his teammate. Hotspot gave a sleepy whine, but otherwise didn't respond. 

"Why'd you get us up, too?" asked Speedy as he and Aqualad slumped up the ramp and over to the thief.

"I'll need help with the Titans," he replied simply. "And Hotspot, if he doesn't wake up."

Upon seeing the fiery boy, Aqualad dumped a ball of water over his head. A long hissing sound followed as steam wafted from Hotspot, who jumped up, gave a cry of surprise, and rubbed his head. Speedy pointed to Aqualad when the fiery boy's glare searched over each of the teammates. X stepped in front of Hotspot.

"Okay, come on guys. Focus. The Titans are almost thawed." Speedy neared the tanks.

"They don't look thawed."

"We're planning on waiting till the whole process is over. Then see what happens," X explained. Hotspot again took his place in front of the two middle tanks and let out wave after wave of heat. Simultaneously, the three other boys backed up.

Shielding his face with his hand, Aqualad looked at the thief. "So what if this doesn't work?"

"We call Blackfire."

-

Raven was up and in the living room just as the sun was completely above the horizon. It was the earliest the girl had ever gotten up. She didn't know why, but she couldn't sleep. She was feeling restlessness, apprehension- too much to ignore and not easy to suppress.

Raven stood at the window, looking out over the water. She checked the landscape cautiously, thoroughly, as if expecting to see what was making her feel anxious.

She was startled when the screen flashed on with Blackfire's face.

"Where is he? Where's Slade?" the woman demanded, an icy glare darting all across the room. Raven, wide-eyed, inched closer to the large couch.

"How did you... why did you... what do you want with Slade?"

"He's breaking our deal faster than I could ever imagine! And I want answers!" screeched Blackfire.

Raven tried to maintain a calm tone. "And what deal is this?" The alien woman looked as if she could rattle on forever, but suddenly her critical gaze was brought down on Raven.

"Hasn't Slade told you? Well, _I'm_ not going to be the one to inform you. I've got that man mad enough at me. I just want my ship back! I've looked through countless rooms in your little fortress- it's mostly wasted space, let me tell you- and I couldn't find him."

"He told me the Titans brought you back as something like a captive," the dark girl said, fists slowly clenching.

Blackfire arched a brow. "He did? That liar! That's slander! Ooh, just wait till I find him!" she shrieked before terminating the link. The screen returned to normal, leaving Raven to stare ahead off into space.

"No," she hissed through fiercely gritted teeth, "wait till _I_ find him."

-

When Hotspot had finally melted the last of the solid substance, he dropped to his knees, panting. He was still too hot for the others to approach and help up, so the other three continued to keep their distance.

Suddenly a hissing sound filled the cargo area as the glass tanks detached from their bases and slowly rose higher. The four Titans collapsed on the small platforms, beginning to show signs of life. The boys were breathing in a hollow fashion while Starfire was already stirring. Hotspot slumped outside to cool down, letting his teammates hurry forward and drag the Titans away from the tanks. It took two to move Cyborg.

Once everyone had been moved, it was noticed that Starfire was awake. Quickly all three boys surrounded her.

"Are you okay?" Speedy questioned.

Aqualad picked up one of her hands, "How did Blackfire get you?"

"How long were you in there?" X inquired. Their questions all came at once, sounding like an unintelligible jumble of noise. Starfire looked blankly at each of them, but gave a cry upon seeing the thief. She jumped to her feet, eyes and hands glowing green.

"No, wait!" all three exclaimed simultaneously, putting out their hands for her to stop.

"What is going on? Where is my sister?" she demanded, dangerously glaring at X.

"If you just hang on, we can explain everything," replied Speedy as he carefully neared her. He had his hands up in a non threatening way and motioned for her to power down.

"What happened?" squeaked a weak voice. Everyone turned to see Beast Boy sitting up, blinking groggily at his surroundings. The other two Titans were beginning to come to. X walked over to Robin and was the first thing the boy wonder saw when he woke up.

"Hey there, kid. Long time no see, huh?" greeted the thief, extending a hand. Reflexively, Robin batted the hand away and jumped to his feet, ready to fight.

"No wonder where Raven gets her untrustiveness from," mumbled X. Aqualad stepped in front of the thief, blocking him from Robin.

"Easy, guys."

"Man, you're helping a _thief_?" accused Cyborg as he, too, stood up. Speedy looked from his teammates to the Titans.

"A lot of stuff's happened since you guys disappeared. We need to get everyone's stories straight before going after Slade."

"What's Slade got to do with this?" demanded Robin.

"Yeah," piped up Beast Boy, who was still sitting on the floor. He was looking wildly around. "And where's Raven?"

"Those answers go together a lot more than you might think," said Aqualad. X stepped out from behind him.

"And before any cute Titans reunion, who's missing a communicator?" Instantly, all four checked their belts. It was Starfire who gave a cry of surprise.

"I was certain I had it!" she said, double checking.

"Then yours is the one Blackfire has," the thief continued gravely. "I don't know how much she heard from us, but she'll most likely hear if you guys talk on those." All the Titans exchanged looks, then stared back at the boys. Speedy motioned for everyone to follow him out of the ship. "We'll explain everything." 

-

Raven rose through the floor in the middle of the large guest room, which Slade had taken as his. All the shades were drawn over the windows, making it appear nighttime still. She wasn't far from the foot of his bed and she could see a bare arm on top of the covers. His mask and suit were strewn across a side table. 

Raven's eyes glowed white. She was tired of having her emotions messed with. When she had wanted answers, it seemed she mostly got lies. The girl wanted a straight, truthful answer for once. She wanted to know what Slade was really up to- what he had been up to this whole time.

With a sharp wave of her hand, all the curtains drew back, an explosion of light following. Slade was startled awake and the first thing he did was grab his mask. He held it up to his face the whole time since he wasn't wearing the black coif the mask attached to.

_"Raven?"_ he exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. The mask hid his face, but not the messy white hair spiking in all directions. "What are you _doing_?" She stalked forward a few steps, eyes white and hands glowing black.

"What are _you_ doing making a deal with _Blackfire?_" shouted the girl. Across the room, a lamp on a stand was devoured by shadow and shattered. "And I don't want any more lies! If you're really into this whole trust issue, why don't you try the _truth_ for once?" One set of curtains grew black and pulled apart into numerous shreds, then fell to the floor.

"Calm down, Raven," Slade said quickly, extending his free hand. A giant shadowed hand appeared, grabbed Slade's baggy shirt and pressed him against the wall. The girl wasn't even thinking about how strange he looked in an undershirt and pajama pants. 

"Tell me that once more and I'll throw you out that window," she hissed. "Now tell me- what was this deal with Blackfire?"

The man vented a defeated sigh. "I wanted her to lure the Titans away so you'd be left by yourself."

"Why?"

"For this," he replied, gesturing toward her with his left hand. "I wanted a worthy apprentice. I wanted you on my side."

_"Why?"_ The man gave a shrug of his good shoulder. His right shoulder, the wounded one, had bandages on it still. Currently, that arm was busy holding his mask in place.

"To see if I could."

"This has all been a game for you?" accused Raven, brows furrowing even more.

"Maybe at first, but not anymore, Raven, believe me."

"So what really happened to the Titans?"

"They were captured by Blackfire. I don't know how, bu they were. She put them in some kind of freezing tanks on her ship." He slouched against the shadowed hand. "Then she came here. I told her to leave, and that's what she was doing when you saw the ship on the computer. She went to Europe."

An expression of confusion mingled with betrayal dominated her face. As she tried to comprehend all of it, the girl tried to keep a stern look. Raven's voice betrayed her, for it had lost all of its force. "But... Blackfire said you stole her ship."

"I did no such thing. It was that X. Charming fellow, isn't he?" The dark hand disappeared and Rave slumped on the edge of the bed, wearily staring at the floor.

"They've been captured all this time?"

Slade took this opportunity to slip the black coif over his head and attach the mask to it. Cautiously, he sat next to her.

"Why did you lie to me?" demanded Raven, an edge of fierceness returning to her tone. She looked up and stared expectantly at his masked face.

"I thought you'd go after them. Would you have?"

"Probably," the girl replied quickly.

"And what about now?" asked Slade as he leaned on his knees. Raven looked back to the floor.

"I have no reason to save them anymore. And I have no reason to trust you anymore, either."

"But you can understand me- my motives, my reasons- can't you? You see why I lied to you," said Slade slowly. He watched her expression closely as she kept staring at the floor.

"I can see your reasons. But your motives are still completely indiscernible," the girl replied in a hollow voice. With effort, the man lifted his wounded arm and rested a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"We can work on that. Anything else on your mind?"

"I want all the lies to stop."

"They should, now that we've resolved a few major issues."

The dark girl looked up at him critically. "How do I know that's not a lie?"

"You don't. You just need to trust me."

"My trust in you is gone," Raven said coldly and in a tone to close the discussion. Slade snickered lightly.

"Well, we can work on that, too." 

-

_"Are we ready _yet_, people?"_ shrieked Gizmo once everyone had gathered in the main room. His two teammates still appeared tired.

"I'm not going anywhere until I've had some breakfast," Jinx said haughtily, heading for the kitchen area.

"What, are you kidding me? It takes you five hours for you to finish chewin' the first slappin' bite! We're going _now!_" 

"We will go when _I_ say so," the girl replied firmly, a deadly stare in her eyes. Suddenly the Master of Games appeared behind her, so quickly and silently it was as if he popped out of thin air.

"Listen to the feisty one. We will leave _now_," he said calmly. Slowly Jinx turned to face him, her expression a mask of fear and surprise. The recruits quickly lined up to disembark. There was no thought from any of them to question Mog. Gizmo bounced over to his teammate, a look of pure glee dominating his face.

"So, are you ready, Your Fluffness?"

"Fine, yes, go, go, _go_!" replied Jinx, hastily moving out from under Mog's sights. 

With a cackle, Gizmo donned his backpack which then sprouted four long, spider-like legs. "All right, everyone, move out! We're going to take on the tower!"

-

"Friends, I cannot believe that Raven has turned against us," Starfire said with an indignant expression. "That is complete flbbnark!"

"She may not be totally on one side or the other- even ours. But she's definitely not on Slade's," Speedy replied quickly.

Everyone was in the basement of the Mega Arcade and it took all four boys to explain to the Titans about Raven. It also took everyone else to keep Beast Boy off different video games. Even though X had shown them the conversations between Slade and Blackfire, Starfire remained stubbornly skeptical. 

"Perhaps she is under some evil mind control and cannot help following Slade," the Tamaranian suggested. "Perhaps-" Robin laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Star. We'll ask her when we get her back. You guys work on getting Raven and leave Slade to me," he instructed his team. Upon receiving an acknowledging nod, he pointed toward the door. "Titans,--"

"Hold your horses, Dudley Notright," X announced quickly. The team spun to face him, their expressions impatient.

"If there is anything I have learned over the past week or so, it's to have a plan _before_ going to the tower."

"We've fought Slade before, man. We're what you call experts," Cyborg retorted, glaring at the thief.

"Obviously," shrugged X. "Not just _anyone_ could get themselves frozen in a tank for days, now could they?" Cyborg remained silent but continued shooting a death-glare at X. The boy continued unruffled.

"Sure you've gone toe-to-toe with Slade, but not Raven."

"Raven will _not_ fight us!" Starfire interrupted, her eyes glowing green.

"She will if Slade tells her to," Aqualad said. He and the other honorary Titans were off to one side, staying out of most of the conversation.

"I refuse to believe that," protested Starfire, crossing her arms across her chest. Aqualad gave a defeated shrug and a small shake of his head. Leaning back against the side of a game machine, he said no more.

"Still, she's gotten a lot more aggressive since you've left, and more powerful. We don't know what Slade's told her- be careful around her," said X.

"We're coming, by the way," Hotspot spoke up as he slid next to Starfire.

"Guys, really. We can handle this," said Cyborg. Speedy strung his bow and tested the string. "No, you'll need our help. Believe us."

An alarm sounding from the corner monitor caught everyone's attention. Hotspot was the first one there to check it.

"The Hive's on the move," he related. "Looks like they're heading for the tower." His head snapped around and he looked from X to Robin, awaiting some kind of order.

"Okay, that's it," Robin called. "Titans, go!" Everyone rushed for the stairs, Cyborg dragging Beast Boy away from the video game he had been winning.

"But... 9th level... so close!" he moaned, vainly reaching for it. 

-

Raven was meditating in front of the large windows when alarms blared. Startled, she nearly fell to the floor. Just as she put her feet on the ground to investigate, Slade rushed in, completely in uniform.

"What is it?" he demanded, making his way over to the screen. The familiar windows appeared: map, video footage, profiles.

"The Hive seems to have gotten a whole lot bigger since last time," snarled Raven with a hateful glare at Jinx's picture.

"So," Slade sighed, leaning his hands on the controls, "this is what they've been up to." The girl's head suddenly jerked around.

"You _knew_ about this?" she shouted, pointing fiercely at the screen, eyes glazed with disbelief. 

"I just knew something was up. I didn't know when or where, though. I see it's here and now."

"You knew the who, though?"

"Vaguely. I was piecing things together," Slade replied distractedly. His fingers were flying across the keys as he summoned his squadrons.

"Then why didn't you _do_ anything about them?" cried Raven with an accusing tone. Slade looked up and straight at her, though still hunched over the keyboard.

"Because, my dear, they weren't such a threat then and I didn't have enough information." The dark girl looked from him to the screen and back again.

"Is _this_ a threat?" 

Slade sounded as if he were smiling. "Get ready for battle, my dear."

--  
**Next Update: **Thur., Jan. 19th

"We're what you call experts," ...anyone watch Mythbusters? hehehe


	25. The Sides Collide

**a.n. Artemis-** Thank you, but I don't update _that_ early in the morning. LoL. Like... 8-ish, 9-ish... eastern time... hehe. **raex18-** Well, you gotta think that no matter what, X'll be right in the middle of all the ruckus. LoL. He'll definitely still be in the story. I'd probably offend him if I tried to write him out right before the battle. hehehe. **faLLen-dreamz-** Ah yes, you want Raven to be a good guy? Next story about the Titans I make, Raven'll be good (not a sequel to this). But this one, I want her to go with Slade. Compromise? LoL. **Moon's Darkness-** The battle... this chapter... wooo! Well, Raven won't really get to meet everyone... can't really go into introductions when everyone's fighting around them. LoL. **lolopixie-** Raven's gonna have a confrontation with just about everyone. XD; I hope I don't disappoint you. Sounds like you have high expectations... but I don't think my story will meet them. hehe. **kidsnextdoor112-** What do you mean 'finally'? I always tell you when I'll update. LoL. **Kendra Chetnova-** So you haven't abandoned me just yet! Good to know. :) heh... both of those movies I'll never see. oO; Anyway... glad you like the story thus far... and Raven'll start attacking at the end of this chapter. **gracefulraven-** Give the Titans a beating... or stay on Slade's side? Isn't that kinda the same thing? hehe. Well, it's awesome you're so into it. And I think most... or all, I dunno... of your questions will be answered this chapter. **VampireSelene-** You like Underworld, too? What is it about that movie? I dunno. Anyway, glad you like the story. I would've updated on Friday, but I have early classes and it just seems like a hassel. So only a 6-day wait. :) **TGrahlv-** It's a day sooner than my updates usually are! And out of everyone's thoughts about the battle, yours might be the only one I won't disappoint. XD; **Boldprint56-** 4 days isn't very long. At least you don't have to wait two weeks for every additional chapter. :p LoL. Glad you like it so much. Now we finally get to the battle in this update. (fanfare) j/k. **LM22102-** And after all this time, I still remember the numbers (without looking). LoL. Well, welcome back. :) When you hadn't replied for a couple of chapters, I checked your profile and you mentioned there you had computer problems... so I just waited for you to return. And I truly did miss you. XD; But you give me way too much writing credit. I'm not that great, seriously. o.O; LoL. **glitz-and-glamour-** I like how you think. ;D LoL. I like either Robin and Raven or Raven and Slade pairings... cuteness. X3; And I'm glad you like the story! Finally it gets to the battle chapter. wee. **Tritium-** Typos? Eh, I guess that's not a surprise... I never proofread my stuff. X3; Hopefully you'll be reading this chapter so fast you won't notice any typos. :) That's my plan, anyway. LoL. ****

Chapter 24

"Battle?" repeated Raven, wide-eyed.

"Yes, we can see you put your skills to practical use. Get your soldiers and assemble in front of the tower," Slade instructed as he finished typing. The girl arched a brow as she observed him.

"You sound... happy." At that he chuckled.

"There's nothing more exhilarating than battle," the man replied, turning and heading for the side doors. Once he reached them, he looked back. "Well, almost nothing. But go."

"Does this have anything to do with Blackfire?" questioned Raven.

"I can assure you: no."

"Are you lying?"

Slade paused, then walked back into the room, letting the doors close. "How am I to answer that? I assume you want to hear 'yes' to have something to argue about, so if I say 'no,' you will accuse me of lying. We don't have time for these little traps of yours, my dear. _Get ready._" Before she could reply, Slade spun around and exited the room in brisk strides. Pulling her hood over her head, Raven sank through the floor. She headed for where she suspected her robots might be congregated.

She found all twenty droids in the training room and proceeded to lead them outside through the front doors. Already a mass of soldiers had gathered in front of the tower, most of them sporting Cyborg-blue upgrades. Soon Slade exited the tower. He took his place at the front of the army and beckoned Raven to follow. Once she was in arms length, he put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Go after only who you think you can easily defeat and let the soldiers protect you. Don't let anyone get past the ranks and into the tower. Got it?"

Raven stood at full height, her eyes gazing determinedly out from the shadows of her hood. "Obviously."

"Anything you want to say before the fight?"

A ghost of a smirk played on the edges of the girl's mouth. "Well... at least you've got clothes on this time."

-

Gizmo peered through his pair of high tech binoculars as his mechanical spider legs kept him in stride with the rest of the group.

"Ol' two-face is expecting us," he announced with a wicked grin. Suddenly the grin melted. "What's this? Something's different with the robots."

"What do you mean?" questioned Jinx, who was walking next to the boy inventor.

"I mean they look like Cyborg. I'm thinking _this_ is what Slade's been up to in that cruddy tower," Gizmo growled, folding the binoculars and attaching them to his backpack. "We should've investigated more!"

"Hey, don't blame this on anyone else," retorted Jinx with a firm and dangers glance at her teammate. "You're the one who wanted to attack." The boy looked away, muttering under his breath.

-

Raven watched through squinted eyes as the Hive appeared on the opposite shoreline. She saw Gizmo fumbling with something and then a huge skiff-like thing grow on the water. It surprisingly held everyone, then began the journey across the bay. 

Arching a questioning brow, the dark girl looked up at Slade. "Aren't you going to do something?" The man looked completely relaxed, standing with his arms folded across his chest.

"When they get here."

"I mean before that- before they even land."

Slade looked down and matched her gaze. "They came all this way for a fight. I'll give it to them. Patience, Raven. Why don't you meditate- stretch your powers before you use them?"

"Right before a fight?"

"Meditate," he ordered before looking back over the water. With a mutinous glint in her eye, she obeyed. The girl floated up, crossing her legs, and whispering her words.

-

"Why aren't they shooting at us?" Mammoth asked suspiciously, leaning to one side to see around Cinderblock. The largest of the group were in the front of the boat to be the first ones in the fray. Another advantage was that they would block the expected enemy fire from the rest of the team. Not surprisingly, the three Hivelings were in the very back.

"Maybe he's short on ammo, so he's having the robots save it," suggested Jinx with a careless shrug.

"That idiot's way too smart for that," Gizmo argued. He was working the skiff's motor with his goggles down over his eyes, making him resemble same large, grotesque bug.

Jinx shielded her eyes from the continuous spray from the water. "He's always up to something. Why are _we_ never up to something? We need something to take Slade off guard!"

"Way ahead of ya, sister," cackled Gizmo, prodding his head toward Mog. "Why else do you think I brought _him_ along?"

-

Slade shook Raven's shoulder when the Hive skiff had almost reached the island. The girl slowly set her feet on the ground, following his gaze.

"Ready, my dear?"

"It's not like I have a choice."

"How are you feeling?"

Raven paused. "Better," she finally admitted. A tense silence crashed over them as they watched the skiff sail closer. Finally it ran onto the bank and instantly Cinderblock and Plasmus were out and stomping for the tower. The Master of Games and Dr. Light followed, the latter heading straight for Raven.

Slade lifted a fist above his head, then brought it forward, pointing to the enemy. Next to him, a line of robots aimed their arm cannons and began firing. It slowed the two giants down, but it didn't stop them in their tracks. As they trudged forward, Slade gave another signal and a squadron of droids rushed down, surrounded the two figures, and began attacking. Those robots were the first to be destroyed.

Dr. Light darted up the rocky bank. Raven's handful of guards were around her, all aiming at the approaching enemy and waiting for the order to fire. The girl just waited and watched. "Why doesn't he just stay in jail?" she sighed to herself, shaking her head. With a wave of her hand, a large shadow barrier appeared right in front of Dr. Light, which he ran into face first. Raven smirked as he backed up a couple of paces. The man rubbed his nose and aimed his own weapons at the dark shield. With one shot, he broke through the defense, much to Raven's surprise.

"Your robots aren't the only ones with an upgrade!" called Dr. Light as he progressed further toward the girl.

Her soldiers took her gasp as permission to attack and began shooting Cyborg-like rays at him. He dodged some and the rest hit a circular light shield upon one arm and were absorbed. Upon seeing that, Raven began shooting dark beams at Light, but even the occasional shot that hit his shield didn't stop him.

Elsewhere, battle and chaos were in full swing. The Hive found it much tougher to defeat the upgraded robots and received some wounds of their own. Cinderblock and Plasmus had been finally halted and were busy trying to smash all the attacking soldiers in their vicinity. Mog was swimming through droids at a surprising speed on his path for Slade. He either slashed or knocked all the guards out of his way while dodging all weapons fire.

Slade watched the approaching creature carefully, studying him. He readied his fighting staff and stood waiting amongst a crowd of soldiers. When Mog finally reached the man, he ordered his drones to scatter, leaving the two alone to fight. Slade didn't give his opponent the chance to attack at first; he bombarded the creature with all kinds of strikes and slashes. The Master eventually got a break when he caught Slade's staff instead of blocking it. He yanked it out of the man's clutches and threw it far off into another patch of skirmishes. Hand to hand, Slade was still formidable, much to Mog's surprise.

Near the two warring men, Raven was still trying to beat Dr. Light. Her attacks, her guards' attacks, and even some random attack gone astray from another patch of fighting did not stop the beady-eyed man. He plowed forward at a steady pace. Finally, Raven decided to stop attacking. She waited until he began climbing over a small boulder in his path, then picked the rock up with her powers and chucked it back toward the water. It was all Dr. Light could do to hold on for dear life. The dark girl pointed to the boulder when it landed and looked back to her guards.

"Keep him busy if he comes back," she ordered. After the lead soldier nodded, Raven searched the battlefield for Jinx, then took off.

The Hive was still busy fighting the multitudes of upgraded guards and didn't even notice the dark girl land next to Jinx. Raven hit her away from her teammates with a black ray and the pink haired girl landed in a small clearing. She quickly got to her feet while brushing herself off.

"So I can finally get retribution for the last time we met," Jinx said, sinking into a fighting stance. Looking past Raven, she saw Dr. Light inching closer; somehow he had snuck past the guards. Jinx smiled. "If you're fighting fair this time, I won't be so easy to beat."

Orbs of shadow enveloped Raven's fists. "And since when have _you_ fought fair?"

Simultaneously, Jinx and Dr. Light lunged for her, and only at the last second did she notice the man behind her. Having already gotten ready for Jinx's attack, there was nothing she could do to stop Light.

Suddenly, the shout of "Do _not_ touch my friend!" rang through the area, followed by glowing green orbs pelting Dr. Light. Both girls stopped in their tracks to look up. There in the sky was Starfire and a green pterodactyl, which morphed into an elephant and came crashing down on a group of soldiers. The rest of the Titans and honorary Titans were running up the bank, shooting at robot and Hive member alike. Wide-eyed, Raven looked to Slade, but he was still too preoccupied with the Master of Games to notice.

Starfire landed next to Raven and glared at the Hive girl. "You will leave friend Raven alone," ordered the Tamaranian, eyes glowing green. When it appeared Jinx would still attack, Starfire shot her with eye beams, knocking her into a patch of robot soldiers who instantly ganged up on her.

"I am overjoyed to see you are safe!" cried the Tamaranian, practically strangling Raven in an unexpected hug. The dark girl quickly withdrew, though, and stared at Starfire as if she was seeing a ghost.

Her attention was caught when Cyborg shouted, "My programming? They've got _my_ programming?" Raven spun around to see the boy aiming his cannon at a few of her guards that were running toward her.

"No, don't!" shouted the girl, but a moment later the three soldiers fell to the ground, their backs smoking. Looking around, she saw the Titans barely fighting the Hive; both groups seemed to be busy fighting the robots. Both her friends and enemies were trying to bring down Raven's side.

"Raven?" Starfire questioned, touching Raven's shoulder. "Is everything all right?" The dark girl looked back to her three broken guards.

"Keep it up," she heard Robin say, "I'm going after Slade!" Her head snapped up and she saw the Titan leader running up toward the tower. Another group of Raven's soldiers began crossing the field to get to her, assuming Starfire was a threat, and they stepped right in Robin's path. He whipped out his fighting staff and began attacking the first drone.

"No! Stop!" Raven cried, eyes glowing white. Her powers forced Starfire to the ground while the dark girl flew toward her guards. When she reached the skirmish, the first guard had already been defeated and two more had been brought down by Speedy's arrows. The archer had joined Robin in fighting the robot squadron.

"I'll take care of these, go after Slade," he said with a nod of his head toward the masked man. Robin put away his weapon and dashed off while Speedy fitted another arrow. Just as he pulled back on the string, both the arrow and the bow were consumed in darkness. The arrow snapped in half and the bow cracked and splintered in several places, but did not break entirely.

The archer turned and stared fiercely at Raven. "Why'd you do that? _What's wrong with you_?" Suddenly a large shadow hand grabbed him around the neck and hoisted him up to her level, Speedy choking the whole way.

"Why did you destroy _my_ robots?" she hissed with white eyes. The archer's expression instantly lost all hardness. Raven didn't wait to hear any excuses; she dropped him and let him fall a dozen feet or so to the ground.

Turning her attention back to Robin, she saw he was much closer to Slade. Plasmus and Mammoth had joined Mog, finally getting past countless soldiers, but the creature immediately grabbed their heads and sucked them both into the large pendent around his neck. After that, one of Master's arms looked like Mammoth's while the other was like Plasmus'. Slade backed up a couple of steps.

"Get offa me, you little creep!" Aqualad shouted nearby. Raven saw Gizmo sitting on his shoulders, pulling his long hair and cackling.

"Where do all of these robots _come_ from?" Beast Boy's high-pitched whine came from another part of the field. He was next to Cyborg, who was busy fighting a drone hand-to-hand.

"I dunno, but I can tell you where they're going. I'm gonna dismantle each and every one of these parts-stealing freaks if it's the last thing I do."

Upon hearing a scream, Raven looked back in Mog's direction. Hotspot had come to help Robin but had gotten too close to the Master and was collected as well. The Titan leader looked from the creature to Slade, trying to determine the bigger threat.

"So they're back," a mechanical voice grunted close to her. Raven looked down to see X fighting off a robot guard. Quickly, a shadow wrapped around the upgraded soldier and took him to a slower, less intense patch of fighting.

"Thanks," said X, leaning on his knees.

"It was so you wouldn't hurt the robot," Raven replied in an unfriendly growl. "Why did you bring them back?" The thief looked up, surprised. Before he could reply, an explosion came from nearby. Starfire was attacking a group of soldiers, some of whom were Raven's.

Everywhere around the field, Hivelings and Titans alike were fighting the drones, not each other. They almost appeared to be working together. And even though Robin was helping Slade fight the Master, she knew once he was defeated, Robin would turn on Slade. Why were the Titans back, anyway? She didn't want them back. Things were fine before... now they were all messed up again. And they were destroying her robots.

With red eyes, Raven turned to Starfire and shot her with a shadowed ray. "That's for Melkzen!" Pointing her fists at Beast Boy and Cyborg, she attacked them as well. "For Tazath and Numak and-" Raven turned to X and had a large fists appear and bash him into the ground- "Benny!" 

She rose higher into the air and all fighting ceased. Her cape flapped wildly as she surveyed the battlefield. "I want you all _out_ of here!" Raven shouted in a demonic voice. When everyone continued to stare at her, wide-eyed and openmouthed, she cried in a fiercer voice, _"GET OUT!"_ There was a sonic boom as a huge shadow barrier emitted from her, traveling in every direction. Raven bit her bottom lip as she tried to make the attack as powerful as possible.

Starfire screamed again, covering her head with her arms; Jinx attempted to shield herself with a dome of her pink powers. Others, like Cinderblock, Gizmo, and Cyborg and Beast Boy, just stood where they were, watching the new attack with awe. No one made any attempt to flee.

The expanding barrier knocked out human and droid alike, each one collapsing immediately after the wave passed over him. Again, the tower shuddered as well from the pressure. The darkness dissipated when it reached the edges of the island, leaving Raven to drop to the ground; she was on the brink of unconsciousness. Those who Mog had absorbed were out and lying on the ground. Mog himself, however, was up and wide awake.

--  
**Next Update:** Thursday, Jan. 26th. And a Happy Jan. 26th to you all. :)

When my one friend was reading this, she said Raven's last "Get out" reminded her of the Beast. LoL.


	26. Slade's Souvenir

souvenir

**a.n. raex18-** Dang, how do you reply so fast? Glad you like it. "Love really hurts"... hehe, loved that. X3; Hope the action in this chapter is just as good. **gracefulraven-** Yay... I'm so happy you like it. And when are you gonna update your story? I miss it. :( **Lai-Ku-** I was wondering where you had gone. hehe. And Benny... LoL, I wanted a normal name, but I was also thinking of Benny from the Mummy. He was so quirky. I loved him. LoL. **Moon's Darkness-** Glad she turned on them? Hehe. At least I pleased someone. **The Morrow-** 25 chapters at once? o.O;; Daaang... I know some of the reviewers here read it at once when there was only 12 or 13 chapters, but... crap, all you people with a longer attention span than me. / LoL. I guess you like it, then. :) **Boldprint56-** Mwaha, I love making pain and suffering! -evil, maniacal laughter- ...j/k Glad you like it! **lolopixie-** Woohoo, you like it! You really like it:D ...does it seem I'm more enthusiastic about your reviews than you are of my story? LoL. XD; j/k Well, hope you like this chapter as well. **Tritium-** Eh... long chapters and me just don't mix very well. o.O; So was Mog stronger than you expected? Anyway, this was gonna be the mega battle and I was gonna end the story in the next chapter, but my friends didn't like how I left it... so now I'm working on chapter 28. / heh. And I really dunno where it's gonna end now. XD; And I dunno if there'll be more battles or what. But my plan worked- you didn't notice any typos in the last chapter, right? And since you wanted more Mog v. Slade, here it is. **psycicflower-** FF is turning evil. :( That's just all there is to it. Meh. Well, even though you didn't read the previous chapter when you reviewed, glad you liked the chapter anyway. hehe. **TGrahlv-** Pixie stix... as in... you're on the sugar high or Slade is? 'Cause I can't see him cheering for anything. XD; ****

Chapter 25

The Master of Games first looked down at his arms, which were back to normal, then around at the battlefield. Finally, his sights landed on Raven.

"You..." he muttered in a low voice. In the deathly silence that engulfed the area, the dark girl heard him clearly. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the approaching creature. He had his large hand extended as if he would absorb her into his pendent as well.

As much as Raven tried, she couldn't work up enough strength to do anything. Just as Mog reached her, Slade jumped on his back, wrapping an arm tightly around the creature's neck. The Master staggered backward and finally managed to throw Slade over his head and to the ground. The man landed on his feet and darted forward instantly. He tackled Mog as the creature neared Raven again, but he again threw Slade off of him and jumped to his feet seemingly uninjured. Slade clutched his right arm for a moment.

"You will never be able to defeat me," growled the Master, hunching his back like a cat.

"We'll see." The man assumed a fighting stance and beckoned his enemy to attack.

Raven remained flat on her back, trying to watch the fight out of the corners of her eyes. She wanted to help, but she figured there was nothing she could do in this weak state. Then an idea hit her. She had been practicing before how to suppress her emotions with the least amount of power to have more power for other things, such as fighting. It hadn't worked too well before, but there was always a first time for everything. Closing her eyes, Raven began to meditate.

The Master of Games lunged forward at the man's signals, claws out and pointed right at the masked man. Slade dodged Mog's swipes, grabbed his arms, and tossed him over his head. The man wasn't surprised to see him land on his feet. 

Without a glance in Slade's direction, the Master once again stalked toward Raven, his arm outstretched. Slade raced over, grabbed handfuls of Mog's back fur and yanked it as hard as he could. The creature balked and roared. He turned with surprising speed and pounded a fist against Slade's wounded shoulder. The man gave his own shout of agony, doubling over.

"Human, you cannot win," Mog scoffed. He again turned his attention to Raven and stalked toward her.

"Then shouldn't you have beaten me by now?" Slade growled back with a hate-filled glare. The man reached into his belt and threw a handful of smoke bombs right in Mog's path. They exploded simultaneously and thick, black smoke poured forth, choking the surroundings. It squelched the sun as it rose.

Mog pushed forward at a much slower pace, an arm covering his face, until he finally cleared it. He looked around for Raven, but to his complete surprise, she was gone. The creature's head darted back and forth, scanning the battlefield. The dark girl was no where to be seen. Mog snarled.

"I'll find her, human," said the creature, bearing his claws.

Slade shot through the smoke behind him, brandishing his fighting staff. He struck the Master across the back of the knees, then whacked him in the back of the head when he staggered.

"Just try," the man hissed threateningly. While Mog struggled to his feet, Slade grabbed the cord which the pendent hung on, wrenched it from his neck and flung it far across the field. Again Slade struck the Master across the head; each time the creature staggered to get up even slower. 

The man wasn't exactly sure where so much energy was coming from, but he found he was attacking harder and dodging his opponent's weakening retaliations quicker.

It took several more fierce, accurate blows to the head for Mog to finally collapse. Slade wondered how the creature's skull hadn't cracked from all of that and poke him repeatedly with the staff to make sure he was out.

With a relieved breath, Slade dropped his weapon and returned to the place he had hidden Raven. She was behind a pile of soldiers, some destroyed, some short-circuited by the girl's attack.

The man crouched next to her. He was unable to tell if she was unconscious or just completely exhausted from fighting. Her breathing was normal and a look of concentration was etched onto her features. When Slade was about to move her again, a voice shattered the silence.

"_Where_ is my _ship_?"

The man spun around to see Blackfire floating several feet behind him.

"How'd you get here?" he asked quickly.

"I flew. All night, in fact, because _my ship was stolen! _And I want it back!" cried the woman, setting her feet on the ground.

"I'm not the one who took it. Ask X, that thief." Slade pointed to a crumbled black figure several yards away. "For once, I had nothing to do with the plan." As he turned back to Raven, Blackfire's eyes shone purple, as did her fists.

"I don't believe you."

Just as she shot at Slade's back, Raven's glowing white eyes flashed open and a dark barrier surrounded the two. Blackfire's attack hit the shield with no effect. The woman backed up a few paces as she watched Raven float off the ground.

"You have a choice, Blackfire," the dark girl said slowly, quietly. But in the silence that engulfed the field, the Tamaranian heard her perfectly. "You can leave here and go wherever you want in search of your ship... or you can stay here, fight me, and eventually be deported from the planet. Without your ship. Up to you." Next to her, Slade snickered as he stood up.

There was a moment where Blackfire seemed to be considering the offer, but then the purple orbs enveloping her fists grew.

"You don't scare me. You're just a child. I bet it took you forever to learn how to levitate," scoffed the woman in a tone dripping with arrogance. Raven didn't reply. She put her fists together and sent a thick shadow ray darting right toward her opponent. Blackfire swiftly imitated, sending a purple beam to collide with the dark one. They met with an explosion. A struggle followed; the point of connection was pushed back and forth as both girls strengthened their attacks. In one final burst of power, Raven broke through Blackfire's purple beam and hit the woman with the shadow ray. Darkness completely enshrouded the woman and she gave a shrill scream. When the blackness faded, she collapsed.

Raven, too, fell to her knees, but she was much more alert than before. She was still exhausted, though. All she felt like doing now was curling up and having a nice, long nap.

Slade took her and propped her up against the pile of soldiers.

"Is that another new attack?" he asked, sitting down near her.

"Might've been. I just really wanted her to go away," replied Raven in a sleepy manner. Slade glanced around the field at all the motionless figures, then looked back to the dark girl.

"I see your attack missed me. So you can control it?"

"Somewhat. But I didn't think that huge monkey would survive. I thought I hit him..." 

"You did, just not hard enough," Slade said quickly. He again checked the field as if expecting to see people waking up. "Well, it looks like your little family's back." Raven followed his gaze to Robin, who was closer to the tower. The rest of the Titans were on the other side of the robot pile, out of sight.

Raven pulled her hood off her head. "They don't seen like a family to me anymore." The man looked back at her.

"They might not be glad to hear that," he replied slowly, watching the girl's head snap around. 

"What do you mean?" demanded Raven. Slade repositioned his wounded arm, which was bleeding again, so it fell limply into his lap. Then he spoke.

"As you can probably see, most everything has gone wrong. Blackfire, the Titans, the Hive bunch-"

"Which I warned you about," Raven cut in quickly. "I told you they were up to something and that we should've investigated all those prison breaks. But you didn't listen." She finished with a self-important nod that made Slade vent an amused snort.

"Yes, you did. And if you ever give me advice again, I'll listen to you. But that might not be anytime soon."

An alarmed expression crossed Raven's face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I probably won't see you for awhile."

"You're just going to leave?" accused the dark girl.

"What else can I do? If you leave, too, your friends won't stop until they've found you again. And I don't want the entire Titan team swarming around any headquarters of mine," Slade replied, moving his injured arm again. Raven nodded with a hard expression. 

"I see. You're just looking out for yourself. As usual. It was the same with Robin and Terra- you sacrificed them to save yourself."

Slade tilted his head. "What are you so upset about?" he asked in a drawling voice.

"You made it sound like my friends had disowned me."

"I lied. They'd go to the ends of the earth for you."

"I liked the first version better," sighed the girl with a faint pout. "I don't want them here." She could hear Slade smirk.

"Then I guess I really did rub off on you."

Just then their attention was captured when the Master of Games crawled into sight. Slade uttered a curse.

"Isn't he ever just _beaten_?" As he quickly searched for his fighting staff, Raven sat up straighter with glowing white eyes. She sent a strong shadow beam at him and it hit him hard in the chest. From a corner of the battlefield, a boulder shrouded in darkness flew over and dropped onto the creature's body. It rolled off, leaving an unconscious Mog.

Slade looked from the Master to Raven. "Weren't you also knocked out when I moved you over here? Now you've attacked and beaten two people."

"I took your advice," Raven said in an impersonal tone, "and reduced the amount of power needed for suppressing my emotions." An exhausted expression grabbed hold of her features, the familiar look Slade had seen her wear after numerous training sessions.

The girl's gaze swept over the field. "So I guess you'll be leaving before anyone else gets up, right? So you'll have enough time to escape?"

"Don't be like that, Raven," he chided unexpectedly sharply. "You're better than that." The dark girl glared at him coldly.

"I thought I could trust you before and you lied to me; I thought I could trust you again and you abandon me- you throw me back to the Titans," she growled.

"If things had gone according to my plans, everything would be much, much different. And I am not abandoning you. If you want me to come back for you, I will."

"Come back? I don't want to be left here in the first place! And if you don't consider it abandonment, what do you call it? Some kind of strategic move?" Raven's argument increasingly grew weaker as her expression grew more tired. The man figured she would either fall asleep or unconscious pretty soon.

"Yes, actually. A strategic move. And you'll just have to live with it." Raven was about to protest when she tasted blood and almost choked. She ran the back of her hand across her lips and found it became stained with streaks of blood.

"Ugh, that's sick," moaned the dark girl as Slade again checked the battlefield.

"Take care of yourself, Raven," he said, looking back to her. "At least for awhile." The girl finally glanced away from her hand.

"You too. Because if I find you in some dark alley while I'm still a Titan, you won't even believe how unmercifully I'll attack you," hissed Raven. With her sleep tone, however, she did not sound as threatening as she would've liked. Slade chuckled under his breath.

"Then I shall look forward to that, my dear."

"What about my robots? I know they'll be destroyed if they stay," said Raven abruptly. "How are you going to take them all away?" Slade hesitated and Raven's hard expression reappeared. "You weren't going to save them, either, were you?"

"For one, it's impossible. Two, they're just robots," he quickly replied. When it looked like he was about to say more, Raven tiredly waved her hand to silence him. She then sat forward with a meditative expression, away from the robots, and raised her arms. Slowly, droids all over the battlefield were being engulfed by darkness and lifted up. By the time they were all in the air, the sky was incredibly darker from all the black shapes. Suddenly all the drones bolted south with amazing speed.

Slade watched them fly off into the distance, then noticed Raven still holding her meditative appearance. Many minutes later her eyes finally opened and she fell back. The man caught her before she hit the ground.

"See how much power you have when I teach you?" he said, his tone bordering humorous.

"The robots are back by the sewer hideout," said Raven in a weak voice, ignoring his statement. She looked as if she would faint again.

"You are most certainly my best apprentice."

"If you're going to leave, leave," the dark girl hissed with narrowed eyes. Slade wiped more blood off her mouth.

"All right, then," he said after looking around the battlefield. It had the appearance and feel of a graveyard; not even the Master twitched.

Slade carefully lowered the girl onto the ground. "See you soon, Raven." She didn't hear; she was slowly blacking out. 

The dark girl barely noticed or remembered it, but she felt something thin and heavy suddenly weigh down her hand. Then she completely fell unconscious.

It seemed mere seconds before she heard someone far off call her name in a quiet voice. Slowly, gradually, the voice strengthened until she could clearly hear Starfire's voice saying "Raven... Raven, wake up, please."

The girl did as she was told and opened her eyes to see... everyone. Raven was in a bed in the tower infirmary, hooked up to several machines. Closest around her bed were the Titans. Standing a distance behind them were the honorary Titans, and behind them was X, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, Raven, you are finally awake! We were so worried!" exclaimed Starfire. She looked as if she was restraining herself from giving the dark girl a bone-cracking hug. Her concerned expression, though, was reflected on every other visible face in the room.

"How long was I out?" questioned Raven weakly as she slowly tried to push herself into a sitting position.

"Since we woke up and found you, it's been a few hours. But we don't know how long we were out for," said Robin.

"And Slade?"

"Gone," Cyborg replied bitterly, shaking his head. "Along with all his drones."

"But he left you a souvenir. We found this in your hand," Robin spoke up, revealing Slade's mask from under his cape.

--  
**Next Update:** Thursday, Feb. 2nd... ha... 2/2... Nice.


	27. Glekk'n Innards Soup

**a.n. gracefulraven-** "his Raven"... X3; I loved that. hehe. I'll try to check out your new story... but I may not have a lot of free time with school and all. x.x; **raex18-** X'll speak this chapter. Don't worry. :) **Karusu-hime-** I'm really glad you like it. And if it doesn't go the way you wanted the story to go, please don't hurt me. XD; **The Morrow-** Confusing? How so? Hopefully things will be explained before I end this in a couple of chapters. Hehe. **raven717-** It's not forever forever... just... a week forever. / And if there's ever a prize for the 300th reviewer, you might get freakishly lucky again. LoL. **Boldprint56-** Not planning a sequel at the moment, sorry. But that's always a possibillity. **Kendra Chetnova-** After 25 chapters, Slade is so mine to act anyway I want. XD;; And hopefully you'll like how he acts in a chapter or two. :33 **lolopixie-** Yay! I was hoping people would think the mask-leaving thing was huge. :3 I'm really glad you're so into it. I dunno how I made people like Slade, either. LoL. **Tritium-** No typos? Nice... I should get an award. :D ...or at least a plaque. LoL And cool, you like the robots, too? When my friends were reading the handwritten chapter, they looked up at me and were like, "but what about the _droids_?" hehe. Without them, there really wouldn't be a story at all. o.O; **faLLen-dreamz-** Sorry, Raven won't be a good guy in this story. :( But any more TT fics I make that aren't sequels to this will have Raven as a good guy. Don't worry. :) **psycicflower-** Typing with one hand? Are you using both hands for different things or is one hand hurt or broken? o.o;; Hopefully not the latter. And for all those questions, you shall find answers in this or the next chapter. ...except for the Irish question, 'cause I dunno what that means. XD; The old Batman show... wow. That was so cheesy it was bordering scary. LoL. I'm more a fan of I Dream of Jeannie, really. hehe. **Moon's Darkness-** Raven was already blacking out when Slade took off his mask, so she hasn't seen his face. Not yet, anyway. :3 **Zarola-** Wow, thanks a lot. :D I'm glad you liked it... hopefully this one, though devoid of any action, really, will be just as interesting. ...I hope. o.o; ****

Chapter 26  
  
Raven just stared at the mask for the longest time.

Finally Robin said, "I'll... put it in the villain showroom with the rest of the Slade memorabilia." As he withdrew his hand, Raven suddenly reached forward and snatched the metal mask.

"I'll keep it," she said softly yet firmly.

"So," Beast Boy spoke up at last, breaking the long, somewhat awkward silence. "X and the guys filled us in on everything with Blackfire and Slade and the deal and the foreverness we've been gone and all... but how are you?"

Raven slowly ran a finger around the rim of the mask, her gaze following the trail. A ghost of a smile was on her face as she considered the question. How was she? Confused, lonely, abandoned, intimidated, uncertain... Most of her powers were being used to suppress all those feelings, so she figured she wouldn't be doing anything else for awhile. Finally she just said, "I'm fine." Raven didn't see everyone's prodding expression for her to divulge more information, so they never heard anything else from her about it. 

The dark girl looked up and around at her four teammates. "What about you? How did Blackfire get you guys?"

"Very sneakily!" cried Starfire. "I was flying back to Tamaran when she captured me. My sister was in her cloaked ship on the edge of my planet's galaxy and when I was near enough, she pulled me right out of space and into one of the tanks! Before I could break free, it was already filling and solidifying."

"Almost same thing happened to us," Beast Boy piped up. "Blackfire snuck up on our ship and kinda fried our engine with these crazy ray-thingies," -He added equally crazy hand gestures- "and beamed us into the tanks somehow. We were all trying to get out, but the weird goo was spillin' in and turning hard and chunky already."

Raven allowed a small smirk to slip onto her face. Here she had been expecting some grand battle in which Blackfire somehow gained the upper hand. But the Titans hadn't even had the chance to fight.

"So practically the whole time you guys were gone, you were in tanks on Blackfire's ship?" she said, skillfully hiding an amused expression. Starfire and Beast Boy looked timid while Robin and Cyborg looked indignant, but nobody answered her.

In the silence that followed, Raven glanced around the room again, then out the window. "What happened to the Hive?"

"They weren't quick enough," Cyborg said, his scowl melting into a proud smile. "When they woke up, they found themselves all tied up and ready to go to jail. The Hive, Dr. Light, Cinderblock, Blackfire, all of 'em."

"Yeah," nodded Beast Boy, "but that Master of Games was hard to take down. Took a bunch of us to get him. But we won."

"So only one got away?" Raven murmured, mostly to herself. She noticed that everyone was conveniently avoiding talking about how the dark girl had attacked them. However, as was his freakish way, Robin seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

"Raven, we don't hold it against you," he said, clutching her shoulder. "Slade has tons of ways for making people obey him... I know." The dark girl felt like laughing. Not laughing for humor, but because the Titans were so clueless and would never think or understand that Raven had joined Slade willingly.

Looking at them now, crowded around her bed with worried expressions, she saw them in a different light. A week or so ago, she would've given anything for this sight- to have her friends back and to know they truly did care for her. Now, though, this was the last thing she wanted. 

Raven drew her hand across her brow in a tired way. She wasn't in the least bit confused anymore. This atmosphere stifled her- the girl was far more uncomfortable around the Titans than she had ever been before. She wanted to get out- to get away. But above all, she wanted her robots back.

"Yes, friend, we are ecstatic you are all right! Now that we are all back together, we can forget about the evilness of Slade and be a team again," Starfire said reassuringly. The rest of the group mimicked her hopeful expression. Raven, however, kept her cold, somewhat distant look; the whole time she was running her fingers around the rim of Slade's mask.

"Yeah, you did a great job of holding down the fort while we were gone. Except for the whole Slade-takeover thing, you were the perfect housekeeper," said Beast Boy with a grin stretching from ear to pointy ear. When the dark girl didn't seem to take it as a compliment, his smile flopped and he part way hid behind Starfire.

"Maybe we should go, guys. Raven probably needs some rest," Cyborg spoke up as he gestured toward the door.

"And besides, we need to rescue the T-ship from Tamaranian space. Team, meeting in five minutes," added Robin, who was the first out of the room. Raven knew he didn't expect her to come and she was grateful for that. Right now she wanted to have as little contact with the Titans as possible. Her thoughts were interrupted when Starfire enthusiastically shook Raven's arm.

"I know! I shall make a delectable soup to aid in your recovery, made from the innards of glekk'n beetles!"

Cyborg steered the alien from the room, saying, "I think Rae's had enough of a fright for awhile. Don't need to make it worse." 

A minute later only the honorary Titans were left. Cautiously, all four approached the bed.

"This is the 'we' I was talking about," Speedy said, smirking. "We've all been working pretty hard to get the Titans back home. Thanks for helping, by the way." Raven arched a brow. He had said that seriously, not sarcastically.

"I helped? How?"

"You didn't stop me when I took that disc," replied Aqualad, leaning on the bed footboard. "Thanks, Raven. Our plan could've been completely blown if you had handed me over to Slade."

"And see, if you'd just have let me explained to you about your friends and Slade, we could've avoided this whole mess," X said, puffing out his chest. Raven merely scowled. She had half the mind to push him right out the window... again. Hotspot interrupted her thoughts.

"We're just glad everything worked out in the end," he said sincerely. The dark girl half-forced a faint smile. She wasn't happy with the latest turn of events, but the four guys _did_ work hard to get the Titans back. 

After a long while of silence, Raven finally asked, "How did you all loners end up on a team together?" In answer, the honorary Titans pointed to X.

"But he's not the easiest guy to work with," Speedy said quickly, smiling when X glared at him. When Raven's gaze fell back to the mask, all four guys figured it was time to leave.

"See you around, Raven," Aqualad spoke up with a slight wave of his hand. "I'm going back to Atlantis."

"You guys aren't staying together?" asked the dark girl, looking up. A short, awkward silence followed as the boys exchanged glances. Then, simultaneously, they broke out laughing.

"No way," grinned Speedy, shaking his head.

"It was fun while it lasted," Hotspot admitted, "but I will never be on a team with any of you again. And I hope you two are never on the same team ever again." The fiery boy acknowledged X and Speedy. He then turned and led the way out of the room.

Last in line, X stopped in the doorway. He looked back at Raven. "Hey, back before you attacked everyone in sight, you asked me why I brought the Titans back." He paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. "Do you... did you... not want them to return?"

For once, Raven put down the mask and stared straight at him. "I was just getting used to the way things were again. I didn't want another change to happen. I felt closer to Slade in a week than I've ever been with the Titans in the past few years." The dark girl looked as if she could go on, but suddenly stopped. Her gaze dropped down to her lap. "Now that the Titans are back," she began in a softer voice, "I'll have to earn their trust all over again, which will be so much harder to do this time around."

"Even so, it's a far better life than what you would've had with Slade," X replied, leaning against the door frame. Raven's eyes flashed up, a cold glint in them.

"Says you."

X almost chuckled. "You're not a very happy girl, are you? Or are you on some kind of medication for allergies or indigestion or..."

"Get out of here," sighed Raven in an exhausted manner. The thief straightened.

"Yeah, okay. I don't want to be yelled at again. But before I go, I got something here for you." The dark girl looked politely curious as X searched through his belt. Finally he withdrew a Titans communicator and tossed it to her. "Figured you'd get more use out of it than I would. I'd rather not be part of your team's cheery little conversations, anyway."

Raven looked skeptical holding the device. "And you think I would?" X laughed at that.

"But seriously, things like that are a lifesaver. Keep it close." With a wave, he left and the door slid closed behind him. Raven sunk further under her sheets; she was still tired and there was nothing else she could do in the room but rest. Almost instantly her eyes were drooping.

"And here I thought they'd never leave," a voice spoke up, startling the girl. It was undoubtedly Slade's voice, but where was he? Quickly Raven's sights landed on the communicator and she opened it. Staring back at her was the familiar masked head. It looked like he was in his lair in the sewer.

"How is it being back with your family, as you called them?" he asked after a short pause.

"Family? I'm adopted," muttered the dark girl with a sulky expression. 

"Are you, now?" was Slade's reply. "Well, you have a little family of twenty here who misses you."

An excited grin cracked on Raven's face. "My robots?" The communicator screen shifted to the side of Slade and showed a group of droids, some working on fixing others. As if on cue, they all looked up and over at the screen.

"Hi, guys!" Raven called, realizing too late that it was a bit too loud. The communicator view returned to Slade.

"They will be here when you come back."

"Raven?" a voice questioned as Starfire poked her head into the room. "Did you say something?"

The dark girl glanced down at the screen to see Slade incline his head in a farewell fashion. The screen went dark and Raven nonchalantly closed the communicator. 

"Ah... no. I just... um... what are you doing back here?" Beaming, Starfire popped into the room carrying a clear bowl of the most unappetizing thing Raven had ever seen. The putrid green liquid with specks of pink sloshed thickly against the sides of the container as Starfire walked. It even seemed to move when she stopped- move on its own.

"I brought you glekk'n innards soup!" the Tamaranian announced cheerfully, offering the entire dish to Raven. Just one sniff made the dark girl reel back against her pillows.

"Actually, I'm not too hungry right now," Raven said quickly.

"In that case, I shall leave it here until you feel like eating again," smiled Starfire, setting it on the beside table.

"You do that," mumbled the dark girl as she watched the soup move on its own again. Quickly she took an extra pillow and set it between herself and the table.

"Raven," Starfire spoke up, stepping behind the bed footboard, "may I ask you something?" The dark girl resisted a smirk as one of Slade's replies immediately jumped into her mind.

"That depends on what kind of answer you're searching for," she quoted. Starfire seemed a little puzzled at the reply.

"I search for a truthful answer," the alien replied with childlike wide eyes. "What did Slade do to make you stay? However, if the memories are too painful, you do not have to answer." Raven was silent for a moment.

"He kept me here by lying to me. But I stayed because he understood me... he trusted me."

"We trust you also, Raven," Starfire said softly.

"But do you all understand me?"

"I try. I believe I understand much about you," replied the Tamaranian in the same soft voice.

"Of course you would. We switched bodies. But not the guys. They don't want to. They don't accept me," Raven spat bitterly, all the talks with Slade resurfacing in her mind.

"You are their friend- you are my friend- we would never let anything happen to you! The boys do not have to understand you to protect you," said Starfire. She looked as if she was about to cry listening to Raven's words. "This is all Slade's fault. If it were not for him, none of this would have happened!"

"You're right about that," agreed the dark girl, fighting back a smirk.

"All the Zarklob Curses upon his head!" Starfire shouted as she pounded the footboard with her fist. The entire bed shook at that. The alien offered a Tamaranian apology when she noticed a deep fist imprint in the board.

"Maybe you should go and... calm down," Raven suggested in a somewhat scared voice.

"Perhaps that is a good idea," nodded Starfire. "Robin wishes to assemble a team to retrieve the T-ship. They will be leaving today for Tamaranian space." The dark girl vented a faint laugh, more cruel than funny.

"Right after they get captured, they're going back?"

"We have no enemies in the space, now. The team will be safe," Starfire replied when she reached the doorway. She pointed to the soup and paused, as if trying to remember something. At last she chirped, "Dig up!" Raven didn't have to look at it anymore; she could hear it moving. Or was it... growling at her?

"By the way Starfire," Raven said just as the alien had disappeared from the doorway. She quickly poked her head into the room.

"Yes?" 

"That bet you made with Beast Boy about what's really under Slade's armor... you're both wrong."

A pout slipped onto Starfire's face. "And I was certain it was Korklb scales..." Her voice trailed off as she contemplated this new information. "So it is true, then... he really _is_ human?"

"'Fraid so," said Raven, pulling the covers up to her shoulders. The alien girl bid her good night and left.

Raven rolled onto her side and set Slade's mask and the communicator on the other bedside table. All she could think about was leaving. Talking with the Titans, the atmosphere had seemed strained. Not only was she creepy to them, she was a potential enemy. Even with Starfire. She was trying to be friendly to Raven and act like nothing had happened. But there was some kind of barrier between the dark girl and her team anymore. There had always been a barrier it seemed, but not like this- not such an obvious one. It was uncomfortable. She just hoped it wouldn't be for long.

-

"I want this entire tower searched for Slade's devices. And if Raven ever leaves the tower by herself, I want her followed," Robin told his team.

"Please, Raven is not our enemy!" cried Starfire. She had just spent her time defending the boys to Raven and now it was going to be the other way around?

"She isn't," Cyborg agreed with a shake of his head, "but Slade is." Robin punched a fist into his palm.

"And there's a chance she can lead us right to him."

"You think Raven's gonna get kidnapped by Slade again?" Beast Boy questioned. When Robin didn't reply, Starfire gasped.

"Raven would _not_ willingly return to Slade! Never!"

Cyborg put his hands up. "Easy, Star. We don't know anything for sure."

"We know she's our _friend_," the alien defended adamantly. The boys seemed unconvinced, yet donned hopeful expressions for Starfire.

-

As she waited for sleep to overtake her, Raven stared at the mask and communicator. X was right- it would be a lifesaver and she would definitely keep it close. She was expecting more calls, anyway. If none came, the dark girl would stick to her word and hunt Slade down.

That last thought made Raven smile and as she drifted off to sleep, she hardly even heard Starfire's soup growling.

--  
**Next Update: **Thursday, Feb. 9th.

I had originally intended for this to be the end of the story. I showed it to my friends and they were just like "... that's it? Oh come on! That's not an ending!" So I wrote more. LoL. ...the power of persuasion.


	28. The Return

**a.n. Karusu-hime-** Army of penguins? -screeches- I love/hate penguins! For some reason, I've had this crazy obsession with them for years- I am so not joking. I got this idea that they were all evil and bent on world domination. Way before Madagascar and March of the Penguins and that little Wallace and Gromit episode. ...yeah. So an army of penguins would be welcomed. :3 **raex18-** Don't mean to disappoint you, but that was the last of X you may see in this chapter. :( I dunno, the end's not worked out yet. Maybe I can squeeze him in. If he does make an appearance, it'll be all for you. LoL. **Lai-Ku-** Longer review? Should I be frightened? j/k Yes, school is a bane. I can't believe how long it's making the week anymore. And this is my senior year. Bah. x.x;; But I shall look forward to any review/critique/rants you send. LoL. **gracefulraven-** I'm glad you like it. And yes, I've been waiting to see what happens next in your story. After that ending... wahawow. X3; **psycicflower-** I was surprised that you reviewed so early this time. Hehe. A possible rash from sterile dressings... that's actually quite freaky. I mean, that's all they really have at doctor's offices and if you're allergic or something... dang. o.o; Hope the hand check-up goes well! And yes, the robots count for everything. XD; It's all about them. **raven717-** Woo, reread all 26 chapters and the prologue? Now that's ambitious. LoL. Maybe I can make a cliff's notes version... XD; hehe, anyway, glad you like it! Here's the next chapter... hope you don't mind it's kinda shorter than ususal. :( **ShadowDevil-** Hey, I could just have that for chap. 27 "Raven went back to Slade and turned evil." I mean, seriously... that would really cut down on words. X3; But, that captures the gist of the ending. LoL. **The Morrow-** Glad you're liking the way it's going. And if a week is slightly too long... then you won't like the next wait. o.o; **Moon's Darkness-** Yay, you like it. :3 I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Raven + Slade forever. XD; **nevermore199-** Ooh, someone who agrees with me. Cool. LoL. If you want, you can just think of these next two or three chapters as a sequel. hehe. When I finally do end it (in '08 or something), hopefully you'll like how it goes. :) If not, I would request a good headstart before you hunt me down. Thank you. LoL. **Artemis- **Is that Artemis as in the Greek goddess or Artemis from Sailor Moon? Just curious. Anyway, glad you like it. Keep readin'. :) **lolopixie-** Yes, exactly! The mystery! I like some endings where not everything is resolved. Leaves stuff to the imagination. But most people think differently than I do. XD; I just have a problem sometimes of never stopping a story and it just drags on and thins out and isn't fun anymore. If that happens, please stop me. X3; **Kendra Chetnova-** You want more? What about all your voices? Don't they get a vote? LoL j/k. ...I'm just in a happy mood 'cause it's the start of the weekend right now. :3 And yes, here's more! **Tritium-** You're late. :p And by happy... do you mean that Slade conquers all and the city is far worse off than ever and the Titans are short a member and despair reigns? Then yes, it will be a happy ending. XD;; **paprika90-** You read the prologue and all 26 chapters in one sitting... O.O; Holy. Crap. I am so envious. So many readers have way more attention spans than I do. X3; I would've gotten bored by chapter 4 or something. LoL, anyway, I am really really glad that there was enough attention-grabbing stuff to keep all the chapters interesting and stuff. Hope you'll like this one as well. :D And just like I'm ignoring the Titans East, season 4 doesn't really happen here. Or rather, my story doesn't fit in with the regular shows. It's in a universe all its own. How speical. LoL. **/kl3x/-** I must say, that is the oddest s/n I have seen here at FF. Anyway, never saw any of the Digimon movies... just the 1st and 2nd seasons. As for the sequel... not planning one for this story. :( Dang, this thing is nearly 30 chapters... if I make another one, I might never be able to stop. XD; **darkraven5192-** Family interruptions... I so know what that's like. x.x; Heh. I'm glad you like the story so much. I'm so into Raven/Slade... and at least I'm not alone. X3; You might not need to find too much time to read this... it's short. I apologize for that. LoL. ****

Chapter 27

Several months had passed since the Titans' return. Blackfire had been flown back to Tamaran and left with their police when the Titans went to fetch the T-ship. The Master of Games had been sent back to his own dimension after Gizmo's invention had been confiscated, and the rest of the Titans enemies had been locked up in the local high-security prison.

When word had spread that the rest of the Titans were back, Johnny Rancid returned, challenging Robin. The team leader went out alone while the rest watched from the tower. Johnny was swiftly put back in prison. 

Life slowly returned to normal- as normal as it had ever been before the Titans departure. Starfire and Beast Boy finally stopped being overly-nice to Raven and Robin's and Cyborg's overly-critical moods finally subsided. Raven was less defensive when the team invited her along. However, she avoided them more now than before, mostly by staying in her room.

Slade hadn't contacted anyone, even Raven, once she recovered, and that only made Robin hunt him harder. The team leader was seen as much as Raven anymore, because he was always somewhere else in the tower, searching through files or logs or anything.

Finally, Starfire convinced him to come to the living room for a card game with the rest of the group. Somehow she had even gotten Raven to leave her room and interact with everyone else.

Beast Boy expertly cut and shuffled the deck, casting cool glances at everyone else. He appeared exactly like a poker dealer- especially because he wore a colored plastic visor. "Okay, five cards each, no trade backs. The name of the game:" Beast Boy paused, looking at each teammate once more. "Go Fish." He began firing cards in a rhythmic fashion at them.

"Okay, man, but don't go turning into a fish every time like that incident last month," said Cyborg, collecting his cards. Beast Boy's ears drooped. 

"Aw, not even a dolphin?"

"If it doesn't have opposable thumbs, forget it, dude." Starfire giggled at that as she spread her cards out in a fanlike shape in front of her face.

"Whose turn?" Raven questioned boredly, lazily studying her cards. Beast Boy was busy arranging his hand, so Cyborg volunteered himself.

"Okay, lessee here. Robin, got any nines?"

The team leader browsed through his cards, but before he could answer, a voice hissed behind him, "Go fish."

Everyone turned to the large screen to see Slade looming there with a perfect view of Robin's hand. The boy dropped his cards immediately and jumped up.

"So, you've finally come back," Robin growled.

"Come back? I never left. I've been in the city this whole time."

"Hiding." 

"_Planning._ And I've fashioned what I think is our best game yet. I admit, I've been neglecting your team since your triumphant return, so this is to make up for it," replied the man, obviously gloating.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "What did you do, Slade?"

"Nothing yet," he said with a wide shrug; his right shoulder appeared healed. "That is... if you're fast enough. You see, two very important buildings are set to detonate, and as we speak, two more bombs are being sent out ot two more destinations. It will be a simultaneous blast... in twenty minutes."

Robin neared the screen, an enraged expression contorting his face. "Why? Why are you going to blow up city buildings?"

"How else should you be welcomed back except with a bang? And all the bigger since it's so belated. ...Looks like you've about lost a minute already. Better hurry, Robin."

Growling, the boy spun to face his team. "Okay, Starfire, go to the city bank. Raven, check out the block of office buildings down the street. Cyborg- the mall parking garage--" He was cut off by Slade's chuckling.

"But Robin, whoever said they were all in _this_ city?" The team leader ran up to the computer controls and terminated the link.

"All right, here's a new plan," he announced, looking back at the Titans, who were now all out of their seats as well. "Starfire, fly Cyborg to the city bank. There's sure to be one there. Cyborg will analyze it, get its signal and track the rest of them. Then he'll tell the rest of us the coordinates. If any bombs are outside the city, they'll most likely be in Gotham. If they are, Raven, be ready to fly there. Everyone got it?" The team nodded, Beast Boy pulling off his visor and giving a salute. "Okay, Titans, go!"

Starfire picked Cyborg up and flew out of the room while Robin headed for the garage. Raven ascended to the tower roof and stood gazing out over the water. It was a peaceful sight... until Beast Boy joined her.

"So, when Cy calls, how about you take east, I'll take south?" he suggested, stretching his arms in preparation for flight.

"It doesn't matter." Raven wouldn't look at him; she continued to gaze at the bobbing waves. Beast Boy didn't pick up on her unsociable tone.

"I say whoever finds a bomb last buys everyone pizza," he added. "I bet we'll all stop Slade's plan before the clock reaches ten minutes." The boy began erratic toe touches.

"Last I heard, betting wasn't your strong suit," mumbled the dark girl, casting a glance over her shoulder at Beast Boy.

"Aw, c'mon," he said, straightening and shrugging, "with the team all together, our odds gotta improve."

As he proceeded to do more spasmic stretching, Raven's communicator began beeping. She pulled it off her belt, opened it, and started. Slade was staring back at her. He said nothing; he knew she wasn't alone. The man merely gave a beckoning gesture before the compact screen went blank.

Raven nonchalantly returned the device to her jeweled belt, her expression as cold as if she had just been informed of a friend's death.

"Our odds should improve greatly if we went to the source," the dark girl mumbled to herself. As Beast Boy started doing jumping jacks, he didn't notice his teammate being engulfed by a giant, black raven and flying off. By the time he did spot her, she was far off in the distance.

"Okay!" he called with hands cupped around his mouth. "You take south, I'll take east!"

Several minutes later, Beast Boy's communicator was called as well. "'Bout time," he told Cyborg. "How long does it take ya to find the third bomb, dude?"

"What are you talking about, man? Star and I just dismantled the bomb. I found the rest simultaneously. Now stop blabberin', this is important. Robin, one' down by the docks; Beast Boy, one's heading down the interstate- crossin' the bridge now. And I can't get a hold of Raven. BB, tell her one's headed for Gotham."

The green boy let out a shaky laugh. "Uh... Raven's been gone awhile now." Immediately, Robin's face appeared on the screen.

_"WHAT?"_ his muffled scream came through his bike helmet. "You just _let her go_?" Beast Boy reeled back from the screen as if Robin could reach through the communicator and smack him.

"Hey, I thought she had gotten coordinates from Cy and went to get a bomb!"

"Okay, okay, forget it," the team leader said. "Star, go after the Gotham bomb, Cyborg, take the one at the docks."

"And what'll you be doin'?" questioned Cyborg.

Robin started the R-cycle. "I'm going after Raven."

-

Down the long stretch of pipe, right into the smaller tube, right again when it dead ended- following the flow of water- over the wide pool to the ledge on the wall with the door. Raven couldn't believe she remembered the way. It had been forever since she had come this way, partly with X.

"What took you so long?" the familiar voice demanded. However, she couldn't see Slade because there were so many robots around the entrance.

"How much time is left?" questioned Raven quickly. She pushed past all the droids and found Slade sitting in front of the screen. He was viewing a map tracking all four bombs. One of the four dots was a different color and Raven figured that was the dismantled one. In each corner of the screen was a video stream of each bomb. She saw no Titans anywhere near the remaining three.

"Oh, about seven minutes."

"Well... turn them off already," the girl said, stopping right next to the chair.

Slade chuckled. "No."

"What? But I thought those were all just a distraction so I could..." Raven's voice faded. "Weren't all those just a diversion?"

"I told you it was a game. And the bombs will be turned off... if the Titans are fast enough."

Suddenly they were aware of a beeping sound. Another screen popped up with a map of the sewer and one lone dot progression further down the entrance pipe.

"Looks like you lead one of your teammates here," Slade said, standing up. When it appeared that she would protest, the man slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. She was knocked to the ground as the harsh echo ricocheted off the far walls.

"Careless," Slade spat before stalking ot the middle of the large room. He ordered the androids to the shadowed walkways in the level above. It was surprising that they all fit up there, but in another minute, he and Raven were the only ones on the floor.

Slade whipped out his fighting staff and stood under the middle hanging light, waiting. Raven staggered to her feet. Grasping her stinging cheek, she stayed off to the side, in the shadows.

Minutes later, the steel door opened and Robin entered. He was drenched from head to toe. 

"Well, well," Slade said, "tired of the game already?"

"Where's Raven?" demanded the boy. His opponent rushed forward and pushed Robin back through the doorway, letting him fall into the pool many feet below. 

"She's here. And I don't expect she'll leave with you."

--  
**Next Update:** Haha... crap. I have no clue. Really. With so much school (I've got this new World Myth class and the teacher's giving us an assignment about every class... it's insane), I haven't written much into the 28th chapter to know when it'll be ready. I'll get it finished asap.

However, I don't really like ending stories, so maybe a little procrastination has played into the delay of writing... hehe. My bad.

I just noticed- short chapter. x.x; 28 will be longer! I shall try my best! Ganbarimasu!


	29. Slade vs Robin

**a.n. raex18-** Yes, when my one friend was reading my little notebook where I write the story, she gasped when Slade slapped Raven. LoL. Exactly the reaction I was going for, so I'm happy. XD; Glad you liked the short chapter. **Karusu-hime-** -waiting for the penguins to get here- LoL. I was so disappointed to find out penguin is "pengin" in Japanese. :( Takes all the fun out of it. Anyway, this chapter is definitely longer than the last one... I made sure of it! (Yes, a whole sentence longer! j/k) So hold the cheese! (hehe... get it?... like a restaurant order.) **darkraven5192-** Yay, glad you like it. :D Here's a longer chapter... and don't go too nuts with suspence, 'cause... well, I don't really know... but it can't be very pleasent. LoL. **gracefulraven-** Yes, he was mean, but he's still protecting her. Gotta give him a little credit for that. X3; I'll check out your story when I can. Hopefully I'll have enough time for that. x.x; **VampireSelene-** Well, to quote Raven from chapter 18: "I do not _work_ for Slade. This isn't some kind of employment." (Funny how lines fit :D) She'd just really rather be with Slade than with the Titans. She gravitates toward the one she's closer to... ol' two face. :) **Zaroloa-** Whenever I see that s/n, I think of that movie "Zathura"... LoL. Anyway, yes, she would get mad, but she wouldn't strike back. She really has learned to be more respectful of Slade... I dunno if I've been able to bring that across clearly in my story or not. x.x; But even though she's more powerful, she knows her place...which is what Slade's been trying to teach her that whole time. And that was a really nice offer to help with my class. My only problem is I need to keep up with all the homework and assignments. x.x; I must balance my time better! **paprika90-** So... when did you turn the big 9-0? LoL j/k. That's over the hill and more. Congrats. :D Thank you for being so understanding with the time! You're so kind. :3 About the pairings. Well... I never really wanted this to be a romantic thing. I was shooting for more of a mental/emotional thing... but it kinda... evolved of its own will. XD; It's ALIVE! ok anyway... If anything, subtle Slade/Raven. Nothing obvoius. I mean, Slade's super old... he might be right around 90 like yourself. Hehe, ok, I'll stop now. X3; **lolopixie-** I made you hate/like/hate/like/hate Slade? I so take that as a complement. :D LoL Bring me a cookie, too, will you? LoL j/k. I'm glad you're into the story. **Moon's Darkness-** Writer's block... ooh, been there. x.x; Hopefully it's not widespread... I might catch it again. Eep! -scatters- **Tritium-** Homework. Evil. You said "don't forget the bombs" and I was just like "... what bombs?" It took me awhile to remember. That's just sad. x.x; And my Myth class is about all these differents stories from all over the world. I was thinking it'd be mostly Greek and Roman, but it's like Indian and American Indian and Biblical (which kinda offends me LoL) and stuff. Despair isn't a happy ending? Dang it! -goes off to rewrite this entire chapter- ...j/k **Kendra Chetnova-** World Myth is pretty cool. We're looking at Greek and Roman and African and all these other stuff. Right now we're doing creation and destruction myths, then I think we'll get into characters and stuff. It's okay, just time consuming 'cause we have to write very think-y responses to what we read just about every class. x.x;; But anyway, glad you like the story:D It won't be much longer... really. **psycicflower-** I was watching the Olympic opening thing where all the nations walk through... and when Ireland came in I thought of you. LoL. But I'm so disappointed Jamaica's not in it this year. ;.; Ever seen the movie "Cool Runnings"? Well, at least your hand doesn't need like... amputation... or something. Hehe. And it rocks to miss a day of school. In the story, I might dissapoint your expectations... I dunno. I've already got wild people, a band of penguins, and some cheese coming after me, so I guess any wrath you send won't surprise me. XD; LoL. j/k But still, hope you like the chapter. **doombunny-** Dang, that s/n rocks. Glad you like the story... hope you like the ending, too. :)

Just a reminder from alllll the way back in chapter 11: _This was taking far longer than Slade would've liked. However, he knew he had to be careful with Raven. She would make a strong ally- the man just had to get her to join willingly. Raven had to think that choosing Slade's side was fully her decision. If she had any doubts about it, she would never live up to her true potential as his apprentice. _

**Chapter 28**

Slade stepped out onto the ledge and closed the door behind him. Raven was thinking about following and watching the fight, but a beeping sound caught her attention. It came from the screen. The alarm quickly subsided; it was merely to announce the three minute warning on the bombs. Raven checked the three corner windows, but was dismayed to see only Beast Boy had reached a bomb. There was no audio with the video streams, but the dark girl guessed by his confused expression as he screamed into his communicator and his erratic gestures that he was asking Cyborg what to do.

Almost a minute later, Starfire found her bomb, lifting it right out of a droid driven covered truck. She set it on the side walk as the truck drove on. The alien looked as if she knew what she was doing as she began tearing off the outer steel layer. 

But Cyborg was still nowhere around the dock bomb.

Raven's gaze dropped to the control panel and she typed in commands to bring up more screens. This computer was similar to the Titan's and that was the only reason why she had confidence fiddling around. 

The girl found the bomb's blueprints, more weapons development screens, a map of the city's water system and power grid, but no way to stop the bombs.

With only a minute left, Raven looked up to the shadowed levels above. "Guys, help me turn these things off!" Immediately, twenty Cyborg blue robots dropped to the floor and quickly approached the screen. 

Another beeping sound rang out as the light on the map to Gotham turned a darker color. Starfire had deactivated her bomb. The alien collapsed with a great sigh of relief. In another corner of the screen, Beast Boy was pulling wires like crazy, but the wires kept stretching and stretching so they never actually broke.

Thirty seconds left and Cyborg had just run into view. Guided by the sensors in his arm, he found the bomb attached to a beam between two long docks, one being used by an ocean barge.

Raven's droids were typing seemingly random codes into a small middle screen faster than humanly possible. Two, on either sides of the control panel, were accessing different programs. A moment later, they finally hacked into the right screen that turned off Beast Boy's bomb. Even though the screen was small, the green boy's surprise was clearly visible.

Now the two guards began typing again and the same windows started popping up. Raven's eyes widened.

"You have to go through all that _again_?" she cried. Her gaze darted from the time remaining to Cyborg's corner screen.

Ten seconds.

The robots hands were flying across the keyboards so fast they were a blur. Cyborg was leaning over the dock, cutting bomb wires and pressing buttons. 

Five seconds.

Raven's breath caught. Even though she didn't like the Titans as she once did, she never wanted them harmed. And she didn't want the city harmed by any bombs, either.

Three... two... one.

A bright light washed all color... all picture... from Cyborg's screen, which was quickly replaced by fuzzy tv snow. The camera had been destroyed. The guards only stopped typing when a quick alarm sounded, informing everyone that time was up. In two other corner screens, both Starfire and Beast Boy were frantically talking into their communicators. 

Raven leaned on the control panel, still wide-eyed. Her robots surrounded her, questioning looks on their faces.

"Bring up another view of the docks. Hack into government satellites if you have to- I want to know what's going on," she ordered in a quiet voice.

-

Slade stalked along the ledge, watching the pool below. The thick ledge seemed to just float under the door; it didn't reach either corner and it didn't connect with the pool perimeter. It was this surface around the pool that Robin had crawled onto.

"Well, this is it," Slade called to him over the noise of the water pouring into the pool. The boy quickly jumped to his feet.

"This is what?"

"This is the fight to end them all. Right here. If you defeat me, you can take Raven back. But if I win, then the Titans shall become a four-member team. And we won't have to have these little skirmishes anymore. We'll prove right now who the better fighter is."

At that Robin ran forward, shot his grappling hook into the bottom of the ledge- the side Slade wasn't on- and swung all the way up to the top. He drew his fighting staff.

"That's a lot of talk, Slade. But I'll shut you up in the end." The man chuckled. 

"You are not my equal, Robin. And I'll prove it to you."

Simultaneously, they lunged for each other, staffs raised. The weapons were brought down against each other so fast that they snapped in half. A moment of hesitation later, the broke staffs were tossed into the pool below.

Robin charged first this time, hurling a fist right for the man's mask. Slade grabbed the hand and yanked it more toward him. As the unbalanced boy followed, Slade kneed him right in the gut. Robin stumbled backward, wheezing. At the last moment he saw a heel flying right for his head. He barely ducked in time.

The boy noticed a small opening and darted through, not stopping until he reached the opposite edge.

"What's your fascination with Raven?" Robin questioned suspiciously. He was already in a fighting position, just waiting. Slade slowly turned to face him.

"What's yours?"

"She's a member of my team," the boy shot back with narrowing eyes.

Slade gave a nonchalant shrug, "She's my apprentice."

"What'd you have to do for that? Brainwash her somehow?" scoffed Robin.

"No need," the man replied smugly. "She's not as committed to your team as you think."

With something resembling a war cry, Robin bolted across the ledge. He flung fists and kicks haphazardly at his opponent, growing more enraged when each attack was blocked. Slade was acting like this wasn't challenging at all. He looked almost bored.

"You're far too rash for your own good, my boy," he said at last when Robin had backed to catch his breath. Slade gave another shrug. "But if you _are_ going to fight like that, you might as well put your back into it."

The boy lunged forward once more, venting another shout. His jabs were much more precise and controlled this round, and Robin stood his ground. He ended up making Slade move back several paces. As Robin sent a heel right or his opponent's head, the man grabbed his ankle and swung him around into the wall. Being so close to the edge, Robin nearly missed grabbing the ledge top as he fell. As he struggled to climb further on, Slade strolled to the other end, silently watching the water pour from the pipe in the opposite wall. He continued to ignore Robin, even when the boy got up and started rushing toward Slade.

-

The two robots at the computer controls were typing in codes faster than Raven could follow. Every couple of minutes, a new picture took over the screen. First, it was a wide view of the earth, with a glint of space beyond, then a shot of the North American continent, then all the way down to a clear view of the docks.

Already Starfire and Beast Boy had arrived and found Cyborg. The bomb blast had taken a sizable chunk resembling a bite mark out of the docks. The huge barge nearby had a dent all along its body, as did all the buildings in proximity. The two long moors on either side of the bomb had been obliterated. Planks and nearby crates and unloaded cargo were burning with a slow fire.

Starfire picked up one of Cyborg's arms, which had landed some distance away from the body, and reattached it. Now Cyborg was only missing the other arm and a leg. Beast Boy jumped into the water, morphing into a dolphin to search for them.

Raven watched with a grimace. At the same time she felt worried and helpless to do anything, yet also detached and somewhat uncaring. Such polar opposites confused her and she could do nothing but watch the screen. The dark girl could send her robots to help if she wasn't going to go... but she didn't want to. Starfire and Beast Boy were capable. And as the moments dragged on, the situation seemed less dire.

A few minutes later, after Beast Boy had resurfaced with Cyborg's missing leg, Raven backed up a step, turning away from the screen.

"I've seen enough," she muttered. As her attention returned to her surroundings, the girl began to wonder what was going on outside the room. However, as she headed for the door, a couple of Slade's robots dropped down from the shadowed level above and blocked her path. An expression of mingled surprise and annoyance crossed her face as she observed their challenge.

"Move," she told them firmly. They did not. Of course they weren't Raven's, but she had though she possessed at least some control over them. Obviously, they had already been given higher orders.

Raven decided not to fight it and returned to her group of robots.

-

Robin and Slade were on the very edge, fists flying, both trying to catch the other off guard. Finally Slade forced the boy away with a hard kick to his chest. Robin grabbed the door frame to keep from stumbling and proceeded to back up. As his opponent approached, the boy withdrew a few bombs from his belt and threw them at Slade. Not toward the ground, but right at Slade. The last thing Robin saw before smoke smothered the area was the man crossing his arms in front of his face. The boy backed up all the way to the ledge's end.

The seconds seemed to stretch much longer as Robin just stood there in a fighting stance, waiting. Moments later, his opponent slowly stepped out of the thick cloud, pulling several wisps of smoke with him. His armored forearms were fire, but the sleeves were tattered and ripped. Also, there was a crack in his mask starting from behind and going diagonally into the black side and under his chin.

Slade tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. Suddenly he rushed forward with a fist drawn back, but right before he reached Robin he stopped, thrusting his fist forward. It, too, stopped right in front of his opponent's face. As Robin balked, Slade's other fist came around and punched the boy right off the ledge. A splash followed.

Slade watched Robin surface and slowly swim to the pool side. It took him an unusually long time to climb up onto the perimeter, and once there, he took a moment to catch his breath. The man jumped down onto the pool ledge and slowly neared him. Robin got to his feet, still ready to fight, though obviously weary.

"Don't you ever give up?" Slade questioned. He nearly hid it, but Robin could detect he was winded, too.

"No, I don't," growled the boy with narrowing eyes.

"More like me every day," his opponent mused with a tilt of his head. Surprisingly, Robin stayed where he was and wasn't goaded into fighting.

"We'll never be alike, Slade. I have four things you don't."

"Like?"

"My teammates."

If Slade still hadn't been catching his breath, he would've laughed. "Well, then you must've already found a replacement for Raven because she's not yours anymore."

"Pride goes before the fall," Robin quoted, sinking into a lower fighting stance. Slade leaned closer, his eye narrowing.

"Then I expect to see you trip quite soon."

That finally got to the boy and he lunged forward. He was setting up for some grand attack and wasn't aware of how open he was. Slade took that opportunity to reach forward, grab the boy's cape at the neck with one hand and his belt with the other and toss him into the pool.

"This is the last round, kid," Slade called once his opponent had surfaced. With a frustrated growl, Robin fished his grappling hook from his belt and shot it a few feet above Slade's head. It pulled him back toward the wall with amazing speed and the boy barely had time to aim both feet at Slade. Robin kicked the man into the wall so hard that he hurt his own legs. The painful wheeze of breath being forced out of Slade echoed throughout the large room. When the man slumped to the ground, clutching his gut, Robin could see a broken indentation in the hard wall.

He returned the grappling hook to his belt. Panting, he said, "Last round and it looks like you lose." The boy began to step around his opponent when he was hit. Slade had swung his leg around and kicked Robin in the back of the knees. When he fell, Slade grabbed his collar and forced his head under the water.

"I don't like losing," the man growled. After a few moments of Robin struggling, Slade dragged him out and forced his back against the wall. He sent a swift kick to his gut before the boy could move. Not it was Robin who dropped to the ground.

A long silence followed as both fighters gasped for breath. A couple of minutes passed and Robin never got up, though he was wide awake.

"Well," Slade finally said, "you put up a good fight. I didn't expect anything less from you." He nudged Robin with his foot to make sure he had the boy's full attention. "No more battles, remember?" Robin's breathing slowed as he channeled all his energy into a hate-filled glare. He could hear Slade smirk.

"Raven's mine now, so don't bother chasing after her."

"This isn't over," the boy spat, struggling to sit against the wall. 

"Come now, don't be a sore loser. You're defeated and no future fight will ever change that," sneered Slade. He leaned forward and tore Robin's mask from his face.

-

Raven was meditating in the middle of her group of robots when Slade returned. He ordered his soldiers to head to another location. When Raven opened her eyes, she saw the man heading for the computer. He walked with a slight limp, the girl thought.

"Who ran over you?" she questioned as she set her feet on the ground. Slade's full attention was captured by the screen and he didn't hear her.

"Only one went off? Pity." He began typing in commands, shutting down the computer.

"So... what happened?" asked the girl, cautiously nearing him. In response, Slade flung Robin's mask toward her. It landed at her feet.

"And what's going to happen now?" Raven questioned in a softer tone.

"We're leaving. Heading for the city. Downtown life is fun once you get used to it." Finally he had finished shutting down the computer and he turned for a control panel near Raven. For the first time she saw his cracked mask.

"Downtown? Right near the tower? Are you sure?" the girl asked with a cynical expression.

"Downtown has been my home for many years now. I've grown accustomed to it," he replied simply. He opened a panel in the wall closest to Raven, exposing a complex switchboard. He began pressing buttons and the sounds of machinery shutting down could be heard.

"You've lived right next to the tower this entire time? But what about all those different lairs of yours?" cried Raven, not even attempting to hide her surprise. Slade chuckled.

"You don't actually believe I would lead all my enemies to my home, now do you? I have many bases of operations in diverse locations. Why else would I keep a low profile for months? I was busy with construction plans." The last button he pressed dimmed the three hanging lights in the room. Closing the panel, he asked, "Well, ready?"

Raven looked from him to the mask laying on the floor. "I guess whatever will keep you from smacking me again."

"Actions- especially mistakes- have consequences. I let things like that slide back at your tower because that was more of a training ground. Now, you've come to join me of your own accord, so I expect you're ready to hack the more intensive parts. But if you're going to whine about my teaching style, then perhaps you're not as mature as I thought. Did I just waste my time and my suit fighting for you?" 

With a guilt-consumed expression, Raven glanced back at Robin's mask- but it was gone. Before she could bring Slade's attention to it, he asked if she was coming or not. The girl edged toward him as she glanced about the entire floor for the mask. 

Slade led the way out the second room exit. Raven's robots waited for her to walk by and fell in line behind her. Once they had all left, the three lights went completely dark.

-

"Come on, kid, wake up," a mechanical voice croaked, followed by the sound of snapping fingers.

Robin slowly opened his eyes to see X staring back at him. With a fearful expression the boy checked his face and let out a relieved sigh once he felt his mask.

"I really risked my neck to get that back for you, y'know," X said, nodding self-importantly.

Both boys were on the riverbank near the large sewer entrance. The afternoon sun shone brightly, making Robins squint as he surveyed his surroundings.

"Okay, what are you doing here and what do you want?" the boy questioned as he stumbled to his feet.

"I was just in the neighborhood... keeping an eye on Raven. Man, you guys really screwed up."

"What!"

"I went out of my way to get her away from Slade. I assembled a stupid team and everything. Then you guys come back and scare her away. I don't like it when my actions are wasted," X said.

Robin folded his arms across his chest and arched a brow. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm gonna help you clueless guys out with getting Raven back," replied the thief.

"I'm not too sure she wants to come back right now."

"Yeah, well, that's usually where the fun begins."

"This isn't a game!" snapped Robin, eyes narrowing.

X replied with an unbothered shrug, "That's what I thought before, too."

--  
**THE END!**

...I'm serious. It's kinda like the ending episode of the Teen Titans show... it doesn't seem like a real good way to end it at first, but once you really think about it, it makes sense (I needed to find this one guy's review about the show before seeing how much sense it made LoL). So once you find that deeper meaning... tell me what it is. XD;;

Hey, it's better than the ending would've been 2 chapters ago. And if you're still not that happy with it, an epilogue is planned. Check the bottom of my profile page for "Influence News."


	30. Epilogue

**a.n.:** **Moon's Darkness-** Yep, it's finally over. Which is kinda nice for me, 'cause I started writing it back in October of '04. So it's actually really nice to be DONE with it. Glad you liked it:3 **raven717-** Chapter 12 for the second time. Impressive feat. I would've quit on 3. XD; And I'm already on something new... Harry Potter. :3 **VampireSelene-** Hehe, great reviews. Short, sweet, and to the point. Thank you for all of them. :) **darkraven5192-** I'm glad you were so intrigued by the story. And yes, I was rooting for Slade to win against Robin, too. X3; He's just way cooler than the boy wonder. Spread the Slade love. LoL. **lolopixie-** X appeared in the last chapter only 'cause raex18 requested him. hehe. And since there was a fan following, he's in the epilogue, too. I must say, I've grown attached to him. :3 LoL. Glad you liked/got the ending. :D hehe. This sorta continues that ending-yet-not-ending kind of an... ending. Yeah. **Kendra Chetnova-** Is that name supposed to be Russian, 'cause that what it sounds like. I think of James Bond. LoL. Anyway... you smell a sequel? Really? I just smell food... hehe. IF (very, very stressed word) there is a sequel, it won't be X and the Titans still chasing after Raven. That's what they were doing in this story. I'd be reinventing the wheel, as they say (and I've always wanted to have a chance to use that line somewhere XD). It'd be more focused on Slade's teaching of Raven. Not that... I've given it any thought or whatever... -nervous cough- **osilus-** Thank you very much. Glad you liked. :) **nevermore199-** Bad things will happen to me if I don't write a sequel? Pfft... please... I've got penguins and cheese and crazy people already after me. Bring it on, sister. LoL j/k (I'm just really hyper tonight after watching Avatar.) It's awesome you liked the story so much. But it had to end sometime. **Zarola-** Yay, you got the ending! And it may be cruel, but that's kinda how I ended the epilogue, too... with it slightly hanging open for a nonexistent sequel. :3 **faLLen-dreamz-** Dangit, all you people with sequel talk. x.x;; Am I some kind of Titan story-producing machine? LoL j/k Glad you liked the story... and that you stuck with it to the end. ...Here's the end. :D **psycicflower-** Weee... St. Patrick's Day. I didn't wear green. I should feel more ashamed than I am. o.O; Anyway, yay, you stuck with the story to the end. That deserves some recognition. Or a plaque. And... ice cream trucks... well, I live in a small town, but I just hear them in the summer. It'd be strange seeing them any other season, I think. Up here in Ohio, we get snow about half the year. x.x;; (Exaggeration, but still...) And how are/were mocks? **gracefulraven-** I hear there is a Titan movie planned. Something about Tokyo. Cool. :D I'm really glad you liked the story enough to keep reading through the months. And good luck with your story. I'm waiting for updates. :) **raex18-** Yes, X is back... completely and totally because you requested it. I'm serious. I wasn't even planning on putting him in that last chapter... or this one... except that he was wanted. LoL. Though he is starting to grow on me. **Tritium-** You're never getting the plaque back... -shifty eyes- Anyway, the epilogue is here... but the sequel... nyeh. How about "They lived happily ever after"? j/k Anyway, glad you liked it and endeared it even with its typos. :)

Another little note... just a reminder from way back in chapter 21 after the question/dueling game, Raven said: _"You know, you said you thought love wasn't enough... I might've just done it for the stability and companionship."_****

Epilogue

A shadow emerged from the floor, quickly taking the shape of a hooded figure. It surveyed the dark room, keenly aware of the security cameras and motion sensors in the museum. However, its main focus was on the object in the center of the room, sitting nicely on a pedestal and surrounded by a glass case. It was a decrepit pottery vase, cracked and chipped with faded color. What it lacked in beauty it made up for in worth. The info tag next to it explained how it was one of the oldest artifacts found in one of the earliest pharaoh's crypts in Egypt. That made the vase priceless, no matter how aesthetically unpleasant it was.

The shadow figure glided right over to the case, easily avoiding all the beams and sensors. And there it waited. It seemed to take forever for the security camera to return to the famous artifact, but once it finally did, the dark presence phased through the case. It was visible through the glass and quickly arrived on the other side of the pedestal. The vase, however, was gone, and the shadow was melting into the floor.

Not long after that, Raven appeared in Slade's longtime headquarters. It was in the unbelievably spacious attic of the tallest building in the city. It had some banking or government function which Raven never really cared to know about. The only fact that concerned her was that they never used the attic. It rather resembled the rest of the building with all of Slade's hi-tech equipment set up.

Slade himself was on the far side of the room, hands clasped behind his back, staring out the windows. Raven could never figure out why windows had been put in the building's attic, but the view was amazing. She could even see Titans Tower out in the bay, though she tried not to look at it often.

Raven walked up to the man and gingerly held up the vase.

"I tired to be as careful as I could bringing it," she said. "It looks... brittle."

"It's not," Slade replied, taking the artifact from her. He juggled it carelessly from one hand to the other.

"What are you going to do with it?" Raven questioned. She watched the vase with worry as it repeatedly flew up into the air.

"Nothing. I don't need it, although it is nice to see it again. I merely wanted the museum camera to catch you stealing it. Just to let the Titans know we're still around."

"But... the vase," continued Raven with a horrified expression. Slade tossed it to her and she quickly caught it with her powers and reeled it into her grasp.

"It's fake," the man said simply. His gaze returned to the lit up city as Raven arched a questioning brow.

"And you know this... how?"

"I know because that was what I replaced the original with when I stole it a couple of decades ago. I sold the real vase to a rich collector. What you're holding, my dear, is worthless," Slade replied with a shrug.

-

Early the next morning in Titans Tower, Robin called everyone to the large screen in the living room. Among the assembled was X, who had become a frequent face in the tower of late. For the past few weeks he had been hanging around- ever since Raven had left.

"All right, everybody, listen up," called Robin. Cyborg had to nudge Beast Boy to wake him up.

"Raven's been sighted just last night." At that every trace of sleepiness disappeared from all the listening faces.

"Really?"

"Where?"

"Is she well?"

All their questions came at once followed by another round, making it impossible to understand any of them. 

Robin waved his hands for silence. "A museum camera captured her stealing the oldest artifact there. Even though this was hours ago, there might be a chance we can still pick up her trail." He showed them the footage of the theft, to which they all agreed it was Raven.

"Let's start from the museum," ordered Robin. Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg immediately set out for the garage, but X stayed where he was.

"Aren't you coming?" the team leader questioned in a tone much too critical. X slowly got to his feet.

"I'll do my own searching, kid. And, no, I won't stay in radio contact with you."

Robin scowled. "Why not? We need to be sharing all the information we get all the time."

"Yeah... no we don't. Truth is- you guys annoy me. Amateurs bring my talent down." X gave an amiable shrug before heading for the side doors.

-

A couple of hours later, Raven reluctantly pulled herself out of bed. She was still tired from last night but she figured Slade had another task of some sort for her to do.

The girl slumped from the cluster of rooms on one side of the attic to the main area. The robots were all bustling about; they were constantly doing something. Slade as at the computer, looking over maps and blueprints.

"What's there to do?" Raven asked, stepping out of a droid's path. "Are we having practice this morning?"

"No," he replied quickly. "You may leave. There's nothing to be done." Raven balked.

"Leave? Like... I have the day to myself?"

"Unless you thought I was giving you permission to leave the planet," Slade said. His voice had an impatient tone ot it which his apprentice didn't catch.

"No, I just never expected to have a free day. I can really do whatever I want?"

With an irritated huff, Slade glared at her over his shoulder. "If it's going to be this difficult to get rid of you, next time I'll just have you locked in your room. Now leave!"

"Anger _management_," mumbled the girl as she turned and glided away.

"I heard that!" Slade called after her. "And if it didn't work fifteen years ago, it's not going to work now." He heard her snicker before phasing from the building.

-

Raven had been sitting for the longest time on a bench in the park. She could think of no place else to go, so she found a rarely traversed, forested path to just idle the hours away. For awhile, it was peaceful. Then...

"Hey, gorgeous. Come around these parts often?"

Raven's head snapped around to see X sitting on the bench back, his boots sprawled across the seat.

"You're stalking me," the girl huffed, turning away.

"No, I think _you're_ stalking _me_. You just get to places before I do."

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Not until I find out where you're hiding. I mean, you don't really have to hide from anyone. All the enemies know where the Titans live... and they're practically never attacked. So why do you need to lie low?"

Raven didn't have an answer. Instead she bristled, "It wouldn't bother you so much if you stayed out of my business and left me alone! And that's a message you can take to Robin!"

"Hey, they're all worried about you," X quickly replied.

"Well, you can tell them to stop."

A noise of approaching people caught the thief's attention for a moment, and when he turned back to argue some more, Raven was gone.

"Hey!" he called, looking around, "that's _my_ thing!"

-

The dark girl was somewhat pleased to know the Titans were worried, for she had once wondered how they would react if she were ever to disappear. Now, it didn't much matter, but she was still pleased, even though it was a piece of information she would quickly try to forget.

However, Raven thought X had brought up a good point about hiding. When she returned to the building that night, she sought Slade out and repeated the question.

The man was in his library, which was a small yet impressive collection of books taking up one whole wall in one of the rooms. He had informed Raven earlier that the library back at his home was grander.

"Why hide?" he repeated, shelving an old-looking book. "It's our advantage. You might as well ask me why I wear my mask."

"That's a good question, too," Raven admitted, though she had clearly caught his sarcasm. The girl leaned against the door frame as she watched him walk along the wall with the bookshelves.

"Again, it's my advantage. If you and the Titans had known what I looked like, you would've seen me all those times."

Raven's head shot up. "What times?"

"Oh, countless times. At the park, preferred restaurants, in the city streets... the list goes on." Slade paused to pull another, similarly old book from the shelf and browse through it.

"You mean you've been around us... in public?" Raven cried, not even trying to hide her surprise.

"One time in the park, the boys were playing some frisbee game and Beast Boy nearly trampled me trying to catch one of Cyborg's long throws. Don't you remember? Starfire came up and began apologizing for him," said Slade. He turned to his apprentice to watch her reaction.

"I remember... Beast Boy... he nearly fell over the bench. And I remember Starfire apologizing to the man... he had a hat... I think," Raven replied slowly, trying desperately to think of more.

"Yes, but you really don't remember the _man_, do you?" Slade chuckled. "See? Advantage," he added, slapping the book closed.

As he shelved it, the girl spoke up, "You don't have to wear it around here, you know."

Slade laughed. "Just because you're here, apprentice, does not mean you suddenly get to know everything. I still have many secrets, unfathomable even by you. If there comes a time when you ever deserve to know any of them, you will know them." He walked towards the door. "You may be here for stability and companionship, but we are most certainly not married. So stop looking for special treatment." As he ended, he slipped past her and out of the room.

Raven watched him walk down the hall toward the main area and pass all her twenty robots, who were nearing her.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a smile. They really were the prettiest things she had ever seen. "Did you get all my stuff from Titans Tower? Hey, all right. Let's go decorate."

--  
Yay! I have reached the end of the story! I don't know about you, but that's enough closure for me... after writing this thing for over a year. x.x; (I checked the story information on my computer and I started writing this back in October '04).

And for all you people asking of sequels. I'm leaning more towards no. / After a year of "Influence," I'm kinda outta this story. I need a break. ;.; Now I'm focusing on Harry Potter. Possibly another year-long story on my part. Don't know if that's the smartest thing, but...

Just want to say to all the readers: reviews are a wonderful thing, so thank you for being so nice and replying. It was great hearing from you and learning of all the tortures I could endure if my updates were sub par. :3 (Still waiting for those penguins, btw. Maybe they're lost...)

And did anyone find "Influence News" helpful? Or read it at all? LoL


End file.
